DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

隱約

简隐约 · 繁隱約

Mandarin · pinyin yǐn yuē

vague; faint; indistinct

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

隱: Look up this written character
約: yuē · treaty, agreement, covenant
隐: yǐn · hide, conceal; hidden, secret
约: yuē · treaty, agreement, covenant

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–1 · yin3 yue1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

隱約 · find source passages ↗ · 隐约 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jan2 joek3

Cantonese word readings for 隱約. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

adj

faint; vague; indistinct
(literary, of language style) implicit and concise; subtle

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack