紧 (jǐn): tight, strict, close at hand
紧 (jǐn) is a Chinese character meaning “tight.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 又 (structural) and 糸 (semantic). It ranks #560 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 紧 silk. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 系 (xì, to connect), 累 (lèi, tired), 绍 (shào, to continue).
Definitions
- tight
- strict
- close at hand
Etymology & Origin
pictophoneticsilk
Stroke Order
Practice writing 紧 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 紧
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 紧张adjective | jǐn zhāng | nervous | 4 |
| 紧急adjective | jǐn jí | urgent | 5 |
| 赶紧adverb | gǎn jǐn | hurriedly | 4 |
| 抓紧verb | zhuā jǐn | to keep a firm grip on | 5 |
| 不要紧adjective | bù yào jǐn | unimportant | 5 |
| 紧密adjective | jǐn mì | inseparably close | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 无关紧要phrase | wú guān jǐn yào | indifferent |
| 紧紧adverb | jǐn jǐn | closely |
| 要紧adjective | yào jǐn | important |
| 紧身adjective | jǐn shēn | skintight |
| 紧迫adjective | jǐn pò | pressing |
| 紧跟verb | jǐn gēn | to follow precisely |
| 紧接着 | jǐn jiē zhe | immediately afterwards |
| 紧凑adjective | jǐn còu | compact |
| 紧要关头noun | jǐn yào guān tóu | urgent and important moment (idiom) |
| 加紧verb | jiā jǐn | to intensify |
| 收紧verb | shōu jǐn | to tighten up (restrictions etc) |
| 紧要adjective | jǐn yào | critical |
| 紧急状态noun | jǐn jí zhuàng tài | state of emergency |
| 紧握verb | jǐn wò | to hold firmly, not let go |
| 咬紧牙关verb | yǎo jǐn yá guān | (idiom) to grit one's teeth tightly |
紧 appears in 92 compound words: 57 as the first character, 28 as the last, and 15 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 紧 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
neither rushed nor slow; at the right pace; unhurried; unflustered; taking one's time
(sports) to closely guard an opponent; (fig.) to keep a close eye on sb; to monitor closely
Example Sentences
时间很紧迫，我们必须加快速度。
Shíjiān hěn jǐnpò, wǒmen bìxū jiākuài sùdù.
Time is urgent; we must speed up.
乳腺增生要紧吗,要怎么治疗?先做检查再决定是否干预
rǔ xiàn zēng shēng yāo jǐn ma , yāo zěn má zhì liáo ? xiān zuò jiǎn chá zài jué dìng shì fǒu gān yù
Is breast hyperplasia important, and how to treat it? Do an examination before deciding whether to intervene
汪小菲过年带子逛饶河夜市 脱口“台湾”赶紧加“中国”
wāng xiǎo 菲 guò nián dài zǐ guàng ráo hé yè shì tuō kǒu tái wān gǎn jǐn jiā zhōng guó
Wang Xiaofei took her children to visit Raohe Night Market during the New Year and blurted out "Taiwan" and quickly added "China"
紧急储蓄帐户可与401(k)计画结合 但很...
jǐn jí chǔ xù zhàng hù kě yǔ 4 0 1 ( k ) jì huà jié gě dàn hěn . . .
Emergency savings accounts can be combined with 401(k) plans But very...
联合国:收到伊朗来信 对地区紧张局势深表关切
lián gě guó : shōu dào yī lǎng lái xìn duì dì qū jǐn zhāng jú shì shēn biǎo guān qiē
United Nations: Received a letter from Iran expressing deep concern about regional tensions
斯洛伐克政府宣布进入国家石油紧急状态
sī 洛 fá kè zhèng fǔ xuān bù jìn rù guó jiā shí yóu jǐn jí zhuàng tài
Slovak government declares national oil emergency
你告诉汤姆那是紧急情况了吗？
Nǐ gàosu Tāngmǔ nàshi jǐnjí qíngkuàng le ma?
Did Tom tell you it was an emergency?
为什么汤姆很紧张？
Wèishénme Tāngmǔ hěn jǐnzhāng?
Why is Tom nervous?
咬紧牙关坚持到底！
Yǎojǐnyáguān jiānchí dàodǐ!
Grit your teeth and bear it!
她用绳子把包裹紧紧绑好了。
Tā yòng shéngzi bǎ bāoguǒ jǐnjǐn bǎng hǎo le.
She tied up the parcel with string.
Character Family
纟 Radical Family — Characters sharing the silk radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 紧 (jǐn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 紧 and 展?
How many strokes does 紧 have?
What is the radical of 紧?
What are the components of 紧?
What are common words containing 紧?
What characters sound the same as 紧 (jǐn)?
Is 紧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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