Character 魘

It names nightmare distress and the feeling of being pinned asleep.

The graph combines 鬼, associated with ghosts, and 厭, which contributes the sound and a sense of pressure. In the surviving text of the early Chinese dictionary Shuowen Jiezi, the entry is marked 新附, “added later.” That label describes a later addition to the dictionary, not the character’s origin date.

Why can 魘 mean more than a bad dream?

Its meanings stretch from fright in sleep to being overpowered.

魘住 describes the feeling of pressure in sleep that leaves someone unable to move or speak. In an example from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, the character can also mean being bewitched or confused. The pressure idea links the bodily and supernatural senses.

How does 魘 work in Chinese and Japanese?

The graph is shared, but readings and conventions differ.

In Mandarin, it is read yǎn, roughly “yen” with the voice dipping and rising. Japanese dictionaries list the verb readings うなされる (“to suffer through a troubled dream”) and おそわれる (“to be attacked in sleep”). As of 2026, 魘 is outside the Jōyō set, the list of kanji designated for general use, so it is unusual in everyday Japanese. 魇 is its simplified Chinese form.