沉 默 寡 言

chén mò guǎ yándictionary entry

habitually silent (idiom) / reticent / uncommunicative

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-a4f904cdf78274a8. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

沉默寡言沉默寡言 [chen2 mo4 gua3 yan2] /habitually silent (idiom)/reticent/uncommunicative/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

沉
chén
to submerge / to immerse / to sink / to keep down / to lower / to drop / deep / profound / heavy
默
mò
silent / to write from memory
寡
guǎ
few / scant / widowed
言
yán
words / speech / to say / to talk

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.