夜深人静 (yè shēn rén jìng) — in the stillness of the night; in the dead of night

Definition

A four-character idiom describing the deep, quiet stillness of late night — used as a time-setting or atmospheric phrase in writing, not in casual speech.

idiom
in the stillness of the nightin the dead of night

Examples

  • 夜深人静，。
    Zài yè shēn rén jìng de shí hou, tā zǒng xǐ huan dú zì sī kǎo.
    In the stillness of the night, he always likes to think alone.
  • 夜深人静，。
    yè shēn rén jìng, Wǒ tīng jiàn le chuāng wài de xiǎo niǎo jiào shēng.
    In the dead of night, I heard the chirping of birds outside the window.
  • 夜深人静，。
    Zhǐ yǒu yè shēn rén jìng shí, tā cái néng jìng xià xīn lái dú shū.
    Only in the quiet of the night can he settle down to read.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夕夕xīmoon
Sound part声符shēngfú
亦
亦yì夜yè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Open 夜 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𥥍
𥥍𥥍深shēn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

深 is built from 氵, the side form of 水 “water”, and 𥥍, which supplies the sound.

Open 深 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 靜; 静 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 靜, not the simplified 静, uses 青 and 爭 for sound; an old source also treats 青 (blue) as a meaning part.

Open 静 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.