瘾 (yǐn): addiction

Meanings

1 addiction
2 craving

Characters

瘾

yǐn

addiction; craving

Examples

HSK 3

他对手机游戏上了瘾。

Tā duì shǒujī yóuxì shàng le yǐn.

He got addicted to mobile games.

HSK 4

抽烟容易上瘾。

Chōuyān róngyì shàngyǐn.

Smoking is easy to get addicted to.

Tips

usage

The most common collocations are 上瘾 (to become addicted) and 过瘾 (to satisfy a craving / to have a great time). 上瘾 can be serious or casual; 过瘾 is usually positive and colloquial.

memory

The radical 疒 (sickness) plus 隐 (hidden) - an addiction is a hidden sickness.

Components

radical

疒 nè

sickness; ailment (radical)

Outer sickness radical (depicts a person leaning on a sickbed) - the indexing radical. Marks 瘾 as a pathological condition. The same radical anchors disease vocabulary: 病 (illness), 痛 (pain), 疯 (mad), 痒 (itch), 疲 (tired). Frames addiction as illness, not vice.

phonetic

隐 yǐn

to hide; concealed (here phonetic)

Inner 隐 supplies the sound (yǐn - exact match) and a poetic semantic hint: addictions are hidden cravings, ailments concealed inside the person. Sickness + hidden = an illness lurking out of sight - neat compositional logic for both pieces.