How to Write 掩 (yǎn) — Meaning “to cover / to hide”

Imagine your hand (扌) is a blanket that you throw over something to hide it. The right side 奄 looks like a person bending down to cover an object, and you can say "yǎn" like the sound of pulling a cover quickly.

The left radical 扌 should be narrow, and the right part 奄 should be wider. In 奄, first write 大 (dà), then a short horizontal stroke, then a vertical stroke through two horizontal lines; a common mistake is writing the top as 天 instead of 大.

拜 (bài) means to worship and has two 手 (hand) components, not the covering meaning. 括 (kuò) means to include and has the right part 舌 (tongue). Visually, 掩's right part 奄 is unique with a 大 on top, while 拜 and 括 look very different.

掩 is used in formal or written Chinese for covering or hiding, often in words like 掩盖 (to cover up) and 掩饰 (to disguise). It appears in news and idioms, such as 掩耳盗铃 (covering ears while stealing a bell), which warns against self-deception.

Common words containing 掩 include: 掩盖 (yǎn gài) — to cover up / to conceal; 掩护 (yǎn hù) — to shield / to cover; 掩饰 (yǎn shì) — to cover up; to gloss over; to disguise.