Chinese symbol for “groan”
哼
hēng
to groan; to snort; to hum; to croon
The closest CC-CEDICT match for groan is 哼 (hēng), defined as: to groan; to snort; to hum; to croon; humph!.
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
Other Chinese words for “groan”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 呻吟 | shēn yín | to moan; to groan |
| 咯吱 | gē zhī | (onom.) creak; groan |
| 悲鸣 (悲鳴) | bēi míng | to utter a mournful cry; wail; groan |
| 呻 | shēn | (literary) to recite; to chant; to intone; (bound form) groan |
| 唶 | jiè | sigh; groan |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 哼.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 哼唱 | hēng chàng | to hum; to croon |
| 哼哼唧唧 | hēng hēng jī jī | whining; groaning |
| 哼声 (哼聲) | hēng shēng | hum |
| 哼唧 | hēng ji | whisper |
| 哼哧 | hēng chī | to puff hard (e.g. after running) |
| 哼儿哈儿 (哼兒哈兒) | hēng r hā r | to hem and haw (loanword) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “groan”.
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.