Chinese symbol for “cryptic”
晦涩
huì sè
Traditional: 晦澀
difficult to understand; cryptic
The closest CC-CEDICT match for cryptic is 晦涩 (huì sè), defined as: difficult to understand; cryptic.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Related words
Other words that share a character with 晦涩.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 隐晦 (隱晦) | yǐn huì | vague; ambiguous |
| 韬光养晦 (韜光養晦) | tāo guāng yǎng huì | to conceal one's strengths and bide one's time (idiom); to hide one's light under a bushel |
| 晦暗 | huì àn | dark and gloomy |
| 晦气 (晦氣) | huì qì | bad luck; unlucky |
| 阴晦 (陰晦) | yīn huì | overcast; gloomy |
| 羞涩 (羞澀) | xiū sè | shy; bashful |
| 苦涩 (苦澀) | kǔ sè | bitter and astringent; pained |
| 青涩 (青澀) | qīng sè | underripe; (fig.) young and inexperienced |
See also: Japanese symbol for “cryptic”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.