How to Write 噤 (jìn) — Meaning “to keep silent”

Imagine a mouth (口) with a large red 'no' symbol (like a forbidden sign) covering it. This visual reminds you that the mouth is not allowed to speak — 'to keep silent.'

The right side 禁 has two parts: 林 (lín, forest) on top and 示 (shì, to show) below. Make sure the 口 on the left is small and left-aligned, and the 禁 part is balanced — a common mistake is making the 口 too large or misaligning the two 木 in 林.

噤 means 'silent' and uses the component 禁, while 嗽 (sòu) means 'to cough' and uses 束 (shù, bundle). 㕡 is an archaic character meaning a water gap or cave, and is rarely used today; visually, it has a different right side than 噤.

You might see 噤 in formal or literary contexts, like 噤声 (jìn shēng) meaning 'to keep quiet' or the idiom 噤若寒蝉 (jìn ruò hán chán) describing someone silent out of fear. It is not used in casual conversation but appears in warnings or descriptive writing.

Common words containing 噤 include: 噤声 (jìn shēng) — to keep quiet; 噤口 (jìn kǒu) — to keep one's mouth shut; 打寒噤 (dǎ hán jìn) — to shiver; to shudder.