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沉闷 (chén mèn) — (of weather) oppressive, sultry; (of mood) depressed, gloomy; (of sound) dull, muffled

Definition

Used for weather, mood, or sound that feels heavy and depressing — similar to 郁闷 but 沉闷 also describes an oppressive atmosphere or dull sound, not only a personal feeling.

adjective
(of weather) oppressivesultry(of mood) depressedgloomy(of sound) dullmuffled

Examples

  • 沉闷，。
    Jīn tiān tiān qì hěn chén mèn, ràng rén bù xiǎng chū mén.
    The weather is oppressive today, making people not want to go out.
  • 沉闷，。
    Tā zuì jìn xīn qíng hěn chén mèn, zǒng shì yí gè rén dài zhe.
    He's been feeling very depressed lately, always staying alone.
  • 沉闷，。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng de pèi yuè hěn chén mèn, ràng rén gǎn dào yā yì.
    The soundtrack of this movie is very dull, making people feel oppressed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

沉chénheavy
闷mēnstuffy

沉 gives a heavy sense and 闷 a stuffy one, together describing oppressive heaviness.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 沉 →

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 悶; 闷 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén悶mēn
Same sound today

The traditional form 悶 has 門 as a sound part and 心 as a meaning part; the simplified 闷 is a later shorthand.

Open 闷 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Mental HealthWeather

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