隠 means “hide, conceal”

かくす · kakusu

Also: cover

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かくす, かくし, かくれる, よる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

イン, オン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 14 strokes

The story

Behind a hill (阝), a clawing hand (爫) holding something tight against the heart (心): hiding what you treasure. 隠す is to hide, 隠れる to hide yourself, and a 隠れ家 is a hideaway, the word for a little restaurant tucked down a back street.

Used in 隠す (kakusu, to hide), 隠れ家 (kakurega, hideaway), and 隠蔽 (inpei, cover-up)

More from Hidden & Hazy

• 潜 dive
• 覆 cover
• 披 open
• 虚 empty
• 顕 manifest
• 伏 lie face down
• 漠 vague
• 錯 mixed up
• 謎 riddle
• 匿 hide
• 妄 delusion
• 蔽 cover

Learn 隠 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.