| yán | (air or water) tight/stern/serious/strict/severe/surname Yan |
| 严 | surname Yan |
| 严丝合缝 | fit together perfectly; join tightly; dovetail |
| 严严实实 | solid firm |
| 严了眼儿 | up to the eyeballs full to overflowing jampacked |
| 严于律己 | to be strict with oneself |
| 严令 | adjuration |
| 严以律己 | strict with oneself |
| 严以责己宽以待人 | to be severe with oneself and lenient with others (idiom) |
| 严以责己，宽以待人 | to be strict with oneself and broad-minded towards others |
| 严冬 | severe winter |
| 严冷 | cold and stern; bitter cold |
| 严刑 | strict law cruel punishment to carry out cruel law rigorously |
| 严刑峻法 | draconian laws |
| 严刑拷打 | cruelly beat up |
| 严判 | a severe judgment |
| 严办 | deal with severely |
| 严加 | to increase vigilance to take more rigorous (precautions) |
| 严加申饬 | serious warning |
| 严加管束 | to control rigorously |
| 严加责备 | to haul a person over the coals |