闲 (xián) · idle; unoccupied; free (not busy)

Meanings

1 idle; unoccupied; free (not busy)
2 leisurely; at leisure

Characters

闲

xián

idle; leisure; free

Examples

HSK 1

你今天有闲吗？

Nǐ jīntiān yǒu xián ma?

Are you free today?

HSK 4

我最近太闲了，很无聊。

Wǒ zuìjìn tài xián le, hěn wúliáo.

I've been too idle lately - very bored.

HSK 4

别管闲事。

Bié guǎnxiánshì.

Don't meddle in other people's business.

Tips

usage

闲 can describe people (idle, free) or things (unused, spare). 闲人 = idler. 闲事 = other people’s business. 闲聊 = to chat casually. 闲逛 = to stroll around aimlessly.

culture

The character shows 门 (door) with 木 (tree/wood) - a tree visible through the gate, suggesting leisure and peacefulness. The traditional form 閒 has 月 (moon) in the doorway - moonlight through the gate, a serene image.

Components

radical

门 mén

door; gate

Outer indexing gate radical 门 - simplified from 門 (a pair of swinging doors). Anchors 闲 in the gate family alongside 间 (between), 问 (ask), 闭 (close), 闯 (rush in). 闲 originally depicted a horizontal bar (木 wood) placed across the gate - a barricade making it impossible to leave, hence "shut in, idle, leisure."

semantic

木 mù

tree; wooden bar

Inside 木 - pictograph of a tree, here functioning as a wooden barrier or door-bolt placed across the gateway. Together the components depict "wood-in-the-gate" - the household closed for the night, no business going on. From this concrete picture came the abstract sense of leisure, idleness, free time. A textbook 会意字.