HSK 5 · Adjectives

沉默 chénmò “silent” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 沉默 means

  1. silent
  2. quiet
  3. to fall silent
  4. taciturn
  5. uncommunicative

How to say 沉默

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale沉chén2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale默mò4th tone, falling

沉默 in a sentence

  1. 沉默是金。

    Chénmò shì jīn.

    Silence is golden.

    Sentence #762937 from Tatoeba

  2. 他发言完后，大家陷入了沉默。

    Tā fāyán wán hòu, dàjiā xiànrù le chénmò.

    When he finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

    Sentence #9555186 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 心烦的时候，最好就是沉默。

    Xīnfán de shíhou, zuìhǎo jiùshì chénmò.

    When you’re upset, it’s best to stay quiet.

    Sentence #6291555 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 沉默 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 沉 (chén) with each of its parts in a different colour
沉chénto submerge
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐ
  • 冗excessive · rǒng
The character 默 (mò) with each of its parts in a different colour
默mòsilent
  • 黑black · hēi
  • 犬dog · quǎn

How to write 沉默

沉 7 strokes · 默 16 strokes

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

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

Words related to 沉默

Words with 沉

沉思chénsī · to ponder沉闷chénmèn · oppressive沉重chénzhòng · heavy沉着chénzhuó · calm and collected深沉shēnchén · deep沉淀chéndiàn · to settle

Words with 默

幽默yōumò · humour默默mòmò · silently潜移默化qiányímòhuà · to influence subtly over time

More words: Adjectives

超级chāojí · super潮湿cháoshī · damp彻底chèdǐ · thorough成熟chéngshú · mature诚恳chéngkěn · sincere充分chōngfèn · ample抽象chōuxiàng · abstract丑chǒu · ugly

FAQs

沉默 (chénmò) means “silent” or “quiet”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it chénmò: chén with a 2nd tone, then mò with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 沉默 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type chenmo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 沉默 from the suggestions. Typing chenmo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
沉默 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.