藏 cáng / zàng — to hide away; to conceal; to harbor; store; accumulate; storehouse
松鼠把松果藏在了树洞里。Sōng shǔ bǎ sōng guǒ cáng zài le shù dòng lǐ.The squirrel hid the pine cones in the tree hole.
Common words: 躲藏 (duǒ cáng)、收藏 (shōu cáng)、隐藏 (yǐn cáng)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to conceal"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to conceal", including 藏 (cáng / zàng), 潜 (qián), 蔽 (bì), 遮 (zhē). Study pinyin, English meanings…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to conceal" covers 4 different Chinese characters — 藏 (cáng / zàng), 潜 (qián), 蔽 (bì), 遮 (zhē) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 4 characters do not share a sound — their readings span cáng, zàng, qián, bì, zhē — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 藏 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 藏 cáng / zàngto hide away; to conceal; to harbor; store; accumulate; storehouseUseful words: 躲藏, 收藏
- 潜 qiánhidden; latent; secret; to hide; to conceal; secretUseful words: 潜力, 潜水
- 蔽 bìto cover; to shield; to screen; to concealUseful words: 隐蔽, 蒙蔽
- 遮 zhēcover up (a shortcoming); screen off; to hide; to concealUseful words: 遮挡, 遮盖
Common words for these 4 "to conceal" characters
Anchor each of these 4 characters in a word you can picture — start with 藏 (cáng / zàng) — so "to conceal" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
躲藏duǒ cángto conceal oneself; to go into hiding; to take cover收藏shōu cángto collect (works of art, dolls, antiques etc); to put away for safekeeping; (Internet) to bookmark; a collection隐藏yǐn cángto hide; to conceal; to mask; to shelter潜力qián lìpotential; latent capacity潜水qián shuǐto dive; to go under water; (in an online forum) to lurk潜移默化qián yí mò huàimperceptible influence; to influence secretly隐蔽yǐn bìto conceal; to hide; covert; under cover蒙蔽méng bìto deceive; to hoodwink障蔽zhàng bìto obstruct遮挡zhē dǎngto shelter; to shelter from
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 4 ways to say "to conceal".
潜 qián — hidden; latent; secret; to hide; to conceal; secret
这个孩子身上有很大的潜力。Zhè ge hái zi shēn shàng yǒu hěn dà de qián lì.This child has great potential.
Common words: 潜力 (qián lì)、潜水 (qián shuǐ)、潜移默化 (qián yí mò huà)
蔽 bì — to cover; to shield; to screen; to conceal
茂密的树叶遮蔽了夏日的阳光。Mào mì de shù yè zhē bì le xià rì de yáng guāng.The dense leaves block out the summer sunlight.
Common words: 隐蔽 (yǐn bì)、蒙蔽 (méng bì)、障蔽 (zhàng bì)
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 4 characters
Open 藏、潜、蔽 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.