HSK 6 · Verbs

保密 bǎomì “to keep something secret” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 保密 means

  1. to keep something secret
  2. to keep sth confidential
  3. to maintain secrecy

How to say 保密

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale保bǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale密mì4th tone, falling

保密 in a sentence

  1. 请保密。

    Qǐng bǎomì.

    Please keep it a secret.

    Sentence #404460 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我希望你对此保密。

    Wǒ xīwàng nǐ duì cǐ bǎomì.

    I’d like you to keep this a secret.

    Sentence #9969120 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我建议他保密。

    Wǒ jiànyì tā bǎomì.

    I advised him to keep it secret.

    Sentence #717161 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 保密 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 保 (bǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
保bǎoto defend; to protect; to keep
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 呆dull · dāiSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 呆 (dāi) hints at the sound. Compare it with bǎo.

The character 密 (mì) with each of its parts in a different colour
密mìdense; close; thick
  • 宓quiet · mì
  • 山mountain · shān

How to write 保密

保 9 strokes · 密 11 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

保密 (bǎomì) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 保密 (bǎomì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 保密

Words with 保

Words with 密

More words: Thinking & Talking

FAQs

保密 (bǎomì) means “to keep something secret” or “to keep sth confidential”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it bǎomì: bǎo with a 3rd tone, then mì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 保密 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type baomi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 保密 from the suggestions. Typing baomi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
保密 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.