遣 (qiǎn): (bound form) to dispatch, to send, (bound form) to drive away, to dispel

遣 (qiǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) to dispatch.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic), 中 (structural), 一 (structural) and 㠯 (structural). It ranks #1763 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 遣 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).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (bound form) to dispatch
  2. to send
  3. (bound form) to drive away
  4. to dispel

Etymology & Origin

遣

pictophoneticwalk

Decomposition: ⿺辶⿱⿱中一㠯 (layout: surround-from-lower-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Practice writing 遣 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
消遣verbxiāo qiǎnto while the time away
派遣verbpài qiǎnto send (on a mission)
差遣verbchāi qiǎnto send (on errand)
遣送verbqiǎn sòngto send away
遣返verbqiǎn fǎnto repatriate (e.g. prisoners of war)
调遣verbdiào qiǎnto dispatch
遣散verbqiǎn sànto disband
先遣队xiān qiǎn duì(military) advance party
遣散费nounqiǎn sàn fèiseverance pay
排遣verbpái qiǎnto divert oneself from (loneliness, grief etc)
调兵遣将phrasediào bīng qiǎn jiàngto move an army and send a general (idiom)
遣送出境qiǎn sòng chū jìngto deport
资遣费nounzī qiǎn fèiseverance pay (Tw)
遣使verbqiǎn shǐto dispatch an envoy
资遣verbzī qiǎnto dismiss with severance pay
19
Total compounds
42
As first character
42
As last character
16
As middle character

遣 appears in 19 compound words: 42 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 16 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 遣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

派pài
0.61452,159 co-occurrences
返fǎn
0.5146,855 co-occurrences
使shǐ
0.43915,408 co-occurrences
送sòng
0.4023,120 co-occurrences
队duì
0.3985,754 co-occurrences
赴fù
0.383696 co-occurrences
散sàn
0.3822,124 co-occurrences
差chā
0.3721,880 co-occurrences
先xiān
0.3623,774 co-occurrences
乃nǎi
0.3581,158 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

调兵遣将diàobīngqiǎnjiàngHSK 7+

to deploy troops and dispatch generals

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

遣字的写法很特别,让我印象深刻。

qiǎn zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The way the character "遣" is written is quite unique and has left a deep impression on me.

NewtalkMar 2026

泽连斯基亲口证实:已派遣200名反无人机专家赴中东 协助对抗“见...

zé lián sī jī qīn kǒu zhèng shí : yǐ pài qiǎn 2 0 0 míng fǎn wú rén jī zhuān jiā fù zhōng dōng xié zhù duì kàng jiàn . . .

Zelenskyy personally confirmed: 200 anti-drone experts have been deployed to the Middle East to assist in countering "...

Orientaldaily MyMar 2026

卖淫集团嫌犯保释期间潜逃泰国 遣返狮城今提控

mài 淫 jí tuán xián fàn bǎo shì qī jiān qián táo tài guó qiǎn fǎn shī chéng jīn tí kòng

Suspect in prostitution ring flees to Thailand while on bail; deported to Singapore and charged today

新西兰中文先驱网Mar 2026

...绿卡不再是“免死金牌”,20年内犯罪均可遣返出境!

. . . lǜ kǎ bù zài shì miǎn sǐ jīn pái , 2 0 nián nèi fàn zuì jūn kě qiǎn fǎn chū jìng !

...A green card is no longer a "get-out-of-jail-free card"; anyone who commits a crime within the past 20 years can be deported!

Hk01.comFeb 2026

还在觊觎格陵兰?特朗普宣布派遣医疗船赴当地“协助很多病人”

hái zài 觊 觎 gé líng lán ? tè lǎng pǔ xuān bù pài qiǎn yī liáo chuán fù dāng dì xié zhù hěn duō bìng rén

Still coveting Greenland? Trump announced the dispatch of medical ships to the local area to "assist many patients"

工商時報Feb 2026

声称帮助病患 川普:将向格陵兰岛派遣医疗船

shēng chèn bāng zhù bìng huàn chuān pǔ : jiāng xiàng gé líng lán dǎo pài qiǎn yī liáo chuán

Claiming to help patients Trump: Medical ships will be sent to Greenland

Tatoeba

打牌是一种流行的消遣方式。

Dǎpái shì yīzhǒng liúxíng de xiāoqiǎn fāngshì.

Playing cards is a popular pastime.

Tatoeba

汤姆失业后,为了排遣郁闷的心情而开始了赌博。

Tāngmǔ shīyè hòu, wèile páiqiǎn yùmèn de xīnqíng ér kāishǐ le dǔbó.

After Tom lost his job, he started to gamble to cope with his depression.

Tatoeba

阅读是我的消遣。

Yuèdú shì wǒ de xiāoqiǎn.

Reading is my past-time.

Tatoeba

国王受够了他的大臣们总是对他阿谀奉承,于是把他们遣散了。

Guówáng shòugòu le tā de dàchén men zǒngshì duì tā ēyú-fèngchéng, yúshì bǎ tāmen qiǎnsàn le.

The king was tired of his sycophants always praising him, so he sent them away.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 辶 (walk) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced qiǎn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 遣 (qiǎn) mean in Chinese?
遣 (qiǎn) primarily means "(bound form) to dispatch." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1763 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 遣 have?
遣 is written with 13 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 遣?
The radical associated with 遣 is 辶 (walk). This radical appears in many characters related to walk.
What are the components of 遣?
遣 is composed of: 辶 (semantic), 中 (structural), 一 (structural), 㠯 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿺辶⿱⿱中一㠯 with a surround-from-lower-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 遣?
Common words with 遣 include: 消遣 (xiāo qiǎn, "to while the time away"); 派遣 (pài qiǎn, "to send (on a mission)"); 差遣 (chāi qiǎn, "to send (on errand)"); 遣送 (qiǎn sòng, "to send away"); 遣返 (qiǎn fǎn, "to repatriate (e.g. prisoners of war)"). There are over 19 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 遣 (qiǎn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation qiǎn: 前 (front), 钱 (money), 千 (thousand), 签 (to sign one's name), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 遣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 遣 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 遣 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.