隠いん滅めつ

also: えんめつ

い

ん

め

つ

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

隠滅する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	隠いん滅めつする	隠いん滅めつしない
Polite	隠いん滅めつします	隠いん滅めつしません
Past polite	隠いん滅めつしました	隠いん滅めつしませんでした
Past	隠いん滅めつした	隠いん滅めつしなかった
Te-form	隠いん滅めつして	隠いん滅めつしないで
Desire	隠いん滅めつしたい	隠いん滅めつしたくない
Potential	隠いん滅めつできる	隠いん滅めつできない
Passive	隠いん滅めつされる	隠いん滅めつされない
Causative	隠いん滅めつさせる	隠いん滅めつさせない
Causative passive	隠いん滅めつさせられる	隠いん滅めつさせられない
Volitional	隠いん滅めつしよう
Polite volitional	隠いん滅めつしましょう
Imperative	隠いん滅めつしろ	隠いん滅めつするな
Conditional	隠いん滅めつすれば	隠いん滅めつしなければ
Tara conditional	隠いん滅めつしたら	隠いん滅めつしなかったら

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb, transitive verb

destruction of evidence; spoliation; suppression

law

Primarily a legal term for destroying, hiding, or tampering with evidence. Also used more broadly for suppressing or obliterating something to prevent its discovery.

彼かれは証しょう拠こ隠いん滅めつの罪つみで逮たい捕ほされた。
He was arrested for destruction of evidence.
会かい社しゃは不ふ都つ合ごうな文ぶん書しょを隠いん滅めつしようとした。
The company tried to suppress inconvenient documents.

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb

hiding; concealment

Only when written 隠滅

Restricted to the kanji form 隠滅. Refers to hiding or concealing something, not necessarily evidence. Less common than the legal sense.

彼かれは自じ分ぶんの過か去こを隠いん滅めつして新あたらしい人じん生せいを始はじめた。
He hid his past and started a new life.

See all 8 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈物もの〉を隠いん滅めつするto destroy or dispose of (evidence)
犯はん人にんは証しょう拠こを隠いん滅めつしようとした。
The suspect tried to destroy the evidence.
隠いん滅めつを図はかるto attempt to destroy or suppress (evidence)
彼かれは証しょう拠こ隠いん滅めつを図はかったが、失しっ敗ぱいした。
He attempted to destroy the evidence, but failed.
〈物もの〉が隠いん滅めつするfor something (evidence) to be destroyed or lost
火か事じで証しょう拠こが隠いん滅めつした。
The evidence was destroyed in the fire.

Kanji

隠conceal, hide, cover
滅destroy, ruin, overthrow
湮sink
堙close up, stop up

Transitive / intransitive

隠滅 can be used both transitively, as in 証拠を隠滅する (to destroy evidence), and intransitively, as in 証拠が隠滅する (evidence gets destroyed).

Related words

隠いん蔽ぺい sense 1
隠蔽 is a broader term for concealing or covering something up, while 隠滅 specifically implies destroying or obliterating it (often evidence).
破は棄きN1sense 1
破棄 means destroying or annulling documents or agreements, but lacks the sense of hiding that 隠滅 carries.
抹まっ殺さつ sense 1
抹殺 means to obliterate or erase something completely (including records or one's existence), while 隠滅 focuses specifically on destroying evidence to escape detection.

Don't confuse with

消しょう滅めつN1sense 1
消滅 means something naturally disappears or expires, whereas 隠滅 means someone deliberately destroys or hides something, usually evidence.

Word family

証しょう拠こ隠いん滅めつ
destruction of evidence

Written forms

隠いん滅めつUsage89%
Standard kanji spelling for both senses. The most frequent form in modern usage.
湮滅Usage11%
- いんめつ
  Rare alternative kanji form. Also has an irregular reading えんめつ, but that reading is not standard.
- えんめつ
  irregular kana usage
  Irregular reading of the rare kanji form 湮滅. Not recommended for learners.
いんめつUsage1%
堙いん滅めつ
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form. Included for recognition only.
えんめつ
irregular kana usage

Etymology

Compound of 隠 (hide) and 滅 (destroy). The spelling 湮滅 uses 湮 (bury, vanish), which is a rare character with a similar meaning. The reading えんめつ is an irregular variant of 湮滅.