旧 (jiù): old, opposite: new 新, former
旧 (jiù) is a Chinese character meaning “old.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丨 (structural) and 日 (structural). It ranks #915 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 旧 older than 丨 the sun 日. Its radical form 日 (sun) appears in many related characters such as 日 (rì, sun, day), 早 (zǎo, early, morning), 时 (shí, time, hour).
Definitions
- old
- opposite: new 新
- former
Etymology & Origin
ideographicOlder than 丨 the sun 日
Decomposition: ⿰丨日 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 旧 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 旧
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 旧金山proper-noun | jiù jīn shān | San Francisco, California |
| 怀旧verb | huái jiù | to feel nostalgic |
| 旧事noun | jiù shì | old affair |
| 破旧adjective | pò jiù | shabby |
| 叙旧verb | xù jiù | to reminisce |
| 陈旧adjective | chén jiù | old-fashioned |
| 旧货noun | jiù huò | second-hand goods |
| 照旧verb | zhào jiù | as before |
| 旧约noun | jiù yuē | former agreement |
| 重操旧业phrase | chóng cāo jiù yè | (idiom) to resume one's old trade |
| 守旧adjective | shǒu jiù | conservative |
| 个旧 | gè jiù | see 個舊市|个旧市 |
| 旧情noun | jiù qíng | old affection |
| 旧式adjective | jiù shì | old style |
| 旧日noun | jiù rì | former times |
旧 appears in 100 compound words: 67 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 8 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 旧 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (18)
old worries with new hatred added (idiom); afflicted by problems old and new
to act in accordance with the old rules (idiom); to follow a proven formula
Showing 12 of 18 idioms containing 旧.
Example Sentences
今天旧气很好，适合去公园散步。
jīn tiān jiù qì hěn hǎo , shì gě qù gōng yuán sàn bù .
The air quality is excellent today, perfect for a stroll in the park.
北视家协点字设备老旧停产 恐影响全台视障生教材制作
běi shì jiā xié diǎn zì shè bèi lǎo jiù tíng chǎn kǒng yǐng xiǎng quán tái shì zhàng shēng jiào cái zhì zuò
The old braille equipment of the Beishi Family Association may affect the production of textbooks for visually impaired students in Taiwan
军系客运重现怀旧女车掌 高雄“真车掌”分享职涯甘苦
jūn xì kè yùn chóng xiàn huái jiù nǚ chē zhǎng gāo xióng zhēn chē zhǎng fēn xiǎng zhí yá gān kǔ
Military passenger transport recreates the nostalgic female conductor Kaohsiung "real conductor" shares the joys and sorrows of his career
上传旧照 嫌犯厨余蒸煮未落实
shàng chuán jiù zhào xián fàn chú yú zhēng zhǔ wèi luò shí
Upload old photos The suspect's kitchen waste steaming has not been implemented
968所学校列第7级残旧!校舍安全再敲警钟
9 6 8 suǒ xué jiào liè dì 7 jí cán jiù ! jiào shě ān quán zài qiāo jǐng zhōng
968 schools are listed as Grade 7 dilapidated! School building safety sounded the alarm again
村屋旧楼入门 5G 路由器恩物 Wavlink...
cūn wū jiù lóu rù mén 5 G lù yóu qì ēn wù W a v l i n k . . .
Village House Old Building Entry 5G Router Grace Wavlink...
我偶然在巴士上碰见了一位旧朋友。
Wǒ ǒurán zài bāshì shàng pèngjiàn le yī wèi jiù péngyou.
I bumped into an old friend on the bus.
那些旧法都被废除了。
Nàxiē jiù fǎ dōu bèi fèichú le.
Those old laws were all done away with.
他扔了很多旧信件。
Tā rēng le hěn duō jiù xìnjiàn.
He threw away a bunch of old letters.
老婆叫我把这顶旧帽子丢掉。
Lǎopó jiào wǒ bǎ zhè dǐng jiù màozi diūdiào.
My wife asked me to throw this old hat away.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 旧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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