促 (cù): (bound form) of short duration, hasty, rapid, (bound form) to hasten, to hurry, to urge, (literary) close by, pressed against
促 (cù) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) of short duration.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural) and 足 (structural). It ranks #1101 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 促 someone 亻 on your heels 足; 足 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).
Definitions
- (bound form) of short duration
- hasty
- rapid
- (bound form) to hasten
- to hurry
- to urge
- (literary) close by
- pressed against
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSomeone 亻 on your heels 足; 足 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰亻足 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 促 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 促
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 促使verb | cù shǐ | to prompt | 5 |
| 促进verb | cù jìn | to promote (an idea or cause) | 5 |
| 促销verb | cù xiāo | to promote sales | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 促成verb | cù chéng | to facilitate |
| 仓促 | cāng cù | all of a sudden |
| 催促verb | cuī cù | to urge |
| 急促adjective | jí cù | urgent |
| 督促verb | dū cù | to supervise and urge completion of a task |
| 短促adjective | duǎn cù | short in time |
| 敦促verb | dūn cù | to press |
| 局促adjective | jú cù | cramped |
| 局促不安 | jú cù bù ān | ill at ease |
| 促膝谈心 | cù xī tán xīn | (idiom) to sit side-by-side and have a heart-to-heart talk |
| 促膝 | cù xī | to sit knee to knee |
| 力促verb | lì cù | to urge |
| 促请verb | cù qǐng | to urge |
| 中国民主促进会 | zhōng guó mín zhǔ cù jìn huì | China Association for Promoting Democracy (one of the non-Communist political parties in China) |
| 中国国际贸易促进委员会 | zhōng guó guó jì mào yì cù jìn wěi yuán huì | China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) |
促 appears in 30 compound words: 50 as the first character, 37 as the last, and 13 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 促 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
那个促影在月光下显得格外孤独。
nā gě cù yǐng zài yuè guāng xià xiǎn dé gé wài gū dú .
That silhouette appeared especially lonely in the moonlight.
男生小便完甩一下能改善前列腺健康吗?促进局部血液循环吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn wán shuǎi yī xià néng gǎi shàn qián liè xiàn jiàn kāng ma ? cù jìn jú bù xiě yè xún huán ma
Can a boy urinate and shake improve prostate health? Promote local blood circulation
蓝白促“国情报告” 总统有问有答、实问实答
lán bái cù guó qíng bào gào zǒng tǒng yǒu wèn yǒu dā , shí wèn shí dā
Blue and white urged the "State of the Union Report" The president had questions and answers
世界杯商机在即 西南管理区敦促酒店业立即行动
shì jiè bēi shāng jī zài jí xī nán guǎn lǐ qū dūn cù jiǔ diàn yè lì jí háng dòng
World Cup business opportunity is imminent Southwest Management Region urges the hospitality industry to act now
川普对等关税被裁定违宪 分析师:企业促退税需多年诉讼
chuān pǔ duì děng guān shuì bèi cái dìng wéi xiàn fēn xī shī : qǐ yè cù tuì shuì xū duō nián sù sòng
Trump's reciprocal tariffs were ruled unconstitutional Analyst: Companies need years of litigation to promote tax refunds
年初八拜天公是否可燃放爆竹 胡栋强促倪可敏交代
nián chū bā bài tiān gōng shì fǒu kě rán fàng bào zhú hú dòng qiáng cù 倪 kě mǐn jiāo dài
On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, whether it is possible to set off firecrackers Hu Dong forced Ni Kemin to explain
可能会引起视力模糊、呼吸急促等副作用。
Kěnéng huì yǐnqǐ shìlì móhu, hūxī jícù děng fùzuòyòng.
Possible side effects include blurred vision and shortness of breath.
它也会促进城市的经济发展。
Tā yě huì cùjìn chéngshì de jīngjìfāzhǎn.
It will also help to strengthen the city's economy.
饥饿促使他偷窃。
Jī'è cùshǐ tā tōuqiè.
Hunger urged him to steal.
这个故事仓促地结了尾。
Zhège gùshi cāngcù de jié le wěi.
The story ended suddenly.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 促 (cù)?
Is 促 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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