Kilo Lingo

(yán) - strict, stern in Mandarin

yán

Traditional: 严

Line drawing of 严
Coloured illustration of 严
#5379 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

strict, stern

Word origin

A character meaning strict or stern. The two mouths at the top (吅, shouting) over the lower element suggest an urgent, severe command, hence strictness.

Origin
ideographic
Root
吅 (two shouting mouths) + lower element

Stroke order

Stroke order for 严

Examples

The situation is serious.

He is very strict.

This is a serious problem.

The teacher is very strict with us.

His father is very stern.

严 (yán) means strict or stern, and intensifies in 严重 (yán zhòng), serious.

Appears in 1 word

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 严.

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This word is part of lesson 108.