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掩饰 (yǎn shì) — to cover up, to conceal, to mask

Definition

掩饰 focuses on disguising feelings, mistakes, or facts so others don't notice — a surface-level concealment. Stronger than 隐瞒 (hiding a truth outright), and more active than 掩盖 (which can also mean physically covering).

verb
to cover upto concealto mask
Easily confused

Examples

  • 掩饰。
    Tā shì tú yǎn shì zì jǐ de cuò wù.
    He tried to cover up his own mistake.
  • 掩饰。
    Tā wú fǎ yǎn shì nèi xīn de xǐ yuè.
    She couldn't conceal her inner joy.
  • 掩饰。
    Tā men yòng huǎng yán lái yǎn shì shì shí.
    They used lies to mask the truth.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

掩yǎncover
饰shìdisguise

Both 掩 and 饰 carry the idea of hiding or disguising, giving the sense of covering up.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
奄
奄yǎn掩yǎn
Same sound today

The left part 扌 is a hand; the right part 奄 gives the character its sound.

Open 掩 →

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 飾; 饰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
巾巾jīncloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
飤
飤sì飾shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 飾 pairs 巾 (cloth) with 飤 as a sound part; the simplified 饰 is a later abbreviation.

Open 饰 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 65000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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