冗 (rǒng): extraneous, redundant, superfluous

冗 (rǒng) is a Chinese character meaning “extraneous.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 冖 (structural) and 几 (structural). It ranks #2949 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 冗 a cover-cloth 冖 on a table 几. Its radical form 冖 (cover) appears in many related characters such as 写 (xiě, to write), 农 (nóng, (bound form) agriculture), 军 (jūn, (bound form) army).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. extraneous
  2. redundant
  3. superfluous

Etymology & Origin

冗

ideographicA cover-cloth 冖 on a table 几

Decomposition: ⿱冖几 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
冗长adjectiverǒng chánglong and tedious
拨冗verbbō rǒngto find time to do sth in the midst of pressing affairs
冗员nounrǒng yuánexcess personnel
冗余adjectiverǒng yúredundancy
冗长度rǒng cháng dù(level of) redundancy
冗长辩论rǒng cháng biàn lùnfilibuster
冗位rǒng wèiredundant position
冗数rǒng shùredundant number
冗务rǒng wùmiscellaneous affairs
冗言nounrǒng yánpleonasm (linguistics)
冗费nounrǒng fèiunnecessary expenses
冗官nounrǒng guānredundant officials
冗语rǒng yǔverbosity
冗职rǒng zhíredundant position
冗兵nounrǒng bīngsuperfluous troops
28
Total compounds
86
As first character
14
As last character
0
As middle character

冗 appears in 28 compound words: 86 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 0 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 冗 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

余yú
0.5211,370 co-occurrences
赘zhuì
0.43912 co-occurrences
滥làn
0.42850 co-occurrences
汰tài
0.427194 co-occurrences
琐suǒ
0.41618 co-occurrences
裁cái
0.414300 co-occurrences
辩biàn
0.39668 co-occurrences
仆pú
0.39344 co-occurrences
繁fán
0.392178 co-occurrences
长cháng
0.376796 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

了解冗字的来源,有助于理解中国文化。

le xiè rǒng zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .

Understanding the origins of redundant characters helps us grasp Chinese culture.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

翻盖机型是本轮复古手机热潮中颇具代表性的品类,主打“轻智能、减冗余”的使用理念。

fān gài jī xíng shì běn lún fù gǔ shǒu jī rè cháo zhōng pō jù dài biǎo xìng de pǐn lèi , zhǔ dǎ qīng zhì néng , jiǎn rǒng yú de shǐ yòng lǐ niàn .

Flip phones are a particularly representative category in the current retro smartphone trend, promoting a user experience centered on “lightweight smart features and minimalism.”

IT之家Aug 2026

根据不同的功能需求精准划分区域,哪里需要拼哪里,彻底砍掉冗余部分。

gēn jù bù tóng de gōng néng xū qiú jīng zhǔn huá fēn qū yù , nǎ lǐ xū yāo pīn nǎ lǐ , chè de kǎn diào rǒng yú bù fēn .

Precisely divide the space into zones based on different functional needs, combining areas where necessary and completely eliminating any redundant parts.

奇客SolidotAug 2026

三种传感器并不是互为冗余,而是组合成一个完整的图像。

sān zhǒng chuán gǎn qì bìng bù shì hù wéi rǒng yú , ér shì zǔ gě chéng yī gè wán zhěng de tú xiàng .

The three sensors are not redundant with respect to one another; rather, they combine to form a complete image.

IT之家Aug 2026

自动驾驶的计算冗余架构采用双组传感器、双连接器、双 SoC 芯片、双路电源四重备份。

zì dòng jià shǐ de jì suàn rǒng yú jià gòu cǎi yòng shuāng zǔ chuán gǎn qì , shuāng lián jiē qì , shuāng S o C xīn piàn , shuāng lù diàn yuán sì chóng bèi fèn .

The computational redundancy architecture for autonomous driving employs a quadruple backup system consisting of dual sets of sensors, dual connectors, dual SoC chips, and dual power supplies.

TvbsMar 2026

...音/李四川遭控见“天道盟”游象贤 儿游辉冗替父驳:较像角头、非帮派

. . . yīn lǐ sì chuān zāo kòng jiàn tiān dào méng yóu xiàng xián ér yóu huī rǒng tì fù bó : jiào xiàng jiǎo tóu , fēi bāng pài

...Yin/Li Sichuan Accused of Meeting "Tian Dao Alliance" Member You Xiangxian; Son You Huirong Defends Father: "More Like a Local Gang Leader, Not a Gang"

Tatoeba

这位老教授的讲座冗长而沉闷。

Zhèwèi lǎo jiàoshòu de jiǎngzuò rǒngcháng ér chénmèn.

The old professor's lectures are long-winded and ponderous.

Character Family

冖 Radical Family — Characters sharing the cover radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced rǒng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 冗 (rǒng) mean in Chinese?
冗 (rǒng) primarily means "extraneous." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2949 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 冗 have?
冗 is written with 4 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 冗?
The radical associated with 冗 is 冖 (cover). This radical appears in many characters related to cover.
What are the components of 冗?
冗 is composed of: 冖 (structural), 几 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱冖几 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 冗?
Common words with 冗 include: 冗长 (rǒng cháng, "long and tedious"); 拨冗 (bō rǒng, "to find time to do sth in the midst of pressing affairs"); 冗员 (rǒng yuán, "excess personnel"); 冗余 (rǒng yú, "redundancy"); 冗长度 (rǒng cháng dù, "(level of) redundancy"). There are over 28 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 冗 (rǒng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation rǒng: 容 (to contain, appearance), 荣 (glory), 融 (to melt, to blend), 溶 (to dissolve), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 冗 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 冗 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 冗 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.