掩 yǎn — cover up; to surprise
她不好意思地用手掩住了嘴。Tā bù hǎo yì si de yòng shǒu yǎn zhù le zuǐ.She shyly covered her mouth with her hand.
Common words: 掩饰 (yǎn shì)、掩盖 (yǎn gài)、掩护 (yǎn hù)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "cover up"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "cover up", including 掩 (yǎn), 遮 (zhē). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "cover up" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 掩 (yǎn), 遮 (zhē) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters do not share a sound — their readings span yǎn, zhē — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 掩 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 掩 yǎncover up; to surpriseUseful words: 掩饰, 掩盖
- 遮 zhēcover up (a shortcoming); screen off; to hide; to concealUseful words: 遮挡, 遮盖
Common words for these 2 "cover up" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 掩 (yǎn) — so "cover up" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "cover up".
遮 zhē — cover up (a shortcoming); screen off; to hide; to conceal
烈日当头，他用帽子遮住了阳光。Liè rì dāng tóu, tā yòng mào zi zhē zhù le yáng guāng.With the scorching sun overhead, he used his hat to block the sunlight.
Common words: 遮挡 (zhē dǎng)、遮盖 (zhē gài)、遮住 (zhē zhù)
All 2 characters
Open 掩、遮 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.