昧

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to conceal; dark

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

日 meaning “sun” + 未 sound ( wèi )

Components 日未

obscure · Heisig RSH #1577

sun + 未 not yet

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
素昧平生	sù mèi píng shēng	(idiom) to have never met sb before; entirely unacquainted
蒙昧无知	méng mèi wú zhī	benighted (idiom); ignorant
昧良心	mèi liáng xīn	it goes against one's conscience
拾金不昧	shí jīn bù mèi	to pick up money and not hide it (idiom); to return property to its owner
愚昧无知	yú mèi wú zhī	stupid and ignorant (idiom)
昧心	mèi xīn	against one's conscience
三昧	sān mèi	Samadhi (Buddhist term)
昧死	mèi sǐ	to risk one's life
蒙昧	méng mèi	uncultured; uncivilized; God-forsaken; ignorant; illiterate
昧没	mèi mò	veiled; obscure
暗昧	àn mèi	obscure; remaining unenlightened
瞒心昧己	mán xīn mèi jǐ	to blot out one's conscience
不揣冒昧	bù chuǎi mào mèi	to venture to; to presume to; to take the liberty of
冒昧	mào mèi	bold; presumptuous; to take the liberty of
暧昧关系	ài mèi guān xì	shady relationship; affair; adulterous relationship
昧旦	mèi dàn	the time just before daybreak
恕我冒昧	shù wǒ mào mèi	if I may be so bold
愚昧	yú mèi	ignorant; uneducated; ignorance
暧昧	ài mèi	vague; ambiguous; equivocal; dubious

Characters sharing the sound component 未 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
未 sound part	wèi	not yet; 8th terrestrial branch
味	wèi	taste; smell, odor; delicacy
妹	mèi	younger sister