迟 (chí): late, delayed, slow
迟 (chí) is a Chinese character meaning “late.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic) and 尺 (phonetic). It ranks #1366 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 迟 walk. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).
Definitions
- late
- delayed
- slow
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 迟 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 迟
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 迟早 | chí zǎo | sooner or later |
| 迟钝 | chí dùn | slow in one's reactions |
| 延迟 | yán chí | to delay |
| 迟疑 | chí yí | to hesitate |
| 迟缓 | chí huǎn | slow |
| 迟迟 | chí chí | late (with a task etc) |
| 毫不迟疑 | háo bù chí yí | without the slightest hesitation |
| 事不宜迟 | shì bù yí chí | the matter should not be delayed |
| 凌迟 | líng chí | the lingering death |
| 姗姗来迟 | shān shān lái chí | to be late |
| 迟滞 | chí zhì | delay |
| 出来混迟早要还的 | chū lái hùn chí zǎo yào huán de | if you live a life of crime, sooner or later you'll pay for it |
| 虽迟但到 | suī chí dàn dào | (slang) slow to arrive but eventually shows up |
| 说时迟，那时快 | shuō shí chí , nà shí kuài | (idiom) no sooner said than done |
| 迟发性损伤 | chí fā xìng sǔn shāng | delayed lesion |
迟 appears in 32 compound words: 53 as the first character, 28 as the last, and 19 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 迟 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
对不起，我来迟了，路上遇到了交通堵塞。
Duìbuqǐ, wǒ lái chí le, lù shang yù dào le jiāotōng dǔsè.
Sorry, I'm late; I encountered traffic congestion on the way.
据报欧盟议会在关税风波后推迟对美国贸易协定投票
jù bào ōu méng yì huì zài guān shuì fēng bō hòu tuī chí duì měi guó mào yì xié dìng tóu piào
The EU Parliament reportedly postponed a vote on the US trade agreement after the tariff turmoil
TD Cowen因数据中心出售延迟下调Cogent Communicati...
yīn shǔ jù zhōng xīn chū shòu yán chí xià diào . . .
TD Cowen downgrades Cogent Communications due to delayed data center sale...
氦气流动异常 阿提米丝2号绕月再推迟
氦 qì liú dòng yì cháng ā tí mǐ sī hào rào yuè zài tuī chí
Helium Flow Anomaly Delays Artemis II Lunar Orbit Mission
新春走基层|货运列车检车员:迟来的团圆,只为让更多..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng huò yùn liè chē jiǎn chē yuán chí lái de tuán yuán , zhī wéi ràng gēng duō . .
Spring Festival at the Grassroots Level | Freight Train Inspectors: A Delayed Reunion, All to Ensure More...
迪克偶尔会上学迟到。
Díkè ǒu'ěr huì shàngxué chídào.
Dick is occasionally late to school.
你迟早要后悔懒惰。
Nǐ chízǎo yào hòuhuǐ lǎnduò.
Sooner or later, you will regret your idleness.
万一他迟到的话怎么辨？
Wànyī tā chídào dehuà zěnme biàn?
What if he should happen to be late?
快点，马丁。我们已经迟到了！
Kuàidiǎn, Mǎdīng. wǒmen yǐjīng chídào le!
Hurry up, Martin. We're already late!
哎呀，差点上课迟到！
āiyā, chàdiǎn shàngkè chídào!
Ach, I was almost late to class!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 迟 (chí) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 迟 and 快?
How many strokes does 迟 have?
What is the radical of 迟?
What are the components of 迟?
What are common words containing 迟?
What characters sound the same as 迟 (chí)?
Is 迟 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 迟 with real-time feedback
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