慎 (shèn): careful, cautious, old variant of 慎
慎 (shèn) is a Chinese character meaning “careful.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (semantic) and 真 (phonetic). It ranks #1748 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 慎 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- careful
- cautious
- old variant of 慎
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 慎 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 慎
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 慎重adjective | shèn zhòng | cautious |
| 小心谨慎phrase | xiǎo xīn jǐn shèn | cautious and timid (idiom) |
| 不慎adjective | bù shèn | incautious |
| 审慎adjective | shěn shèn | prudent |
| 慎重其事 | shèn zhòng qí shì | to treat a matter with due consideration (idiom) |
| 审慎行事 | shěn shèn xíng shì | to act prudently |
| 以慎为键 | yǐ shèn wéi jiàn | to take caution as the key (idiom) |
| 石原慎太郎 | shí yuán shèn tài láng | Ishihara Shintarō (1932-), Japanese author and politician, governor of Tokyo 1999-2012 |
| 慎终追远phrase | shèn zhōng zhuī yuǎn | to pay careful attention to one's parents' funerary rites |
| 一着不慎，满盘皆输 | yī zhāo bù shèn , mǎn pán jiē shū | One careless move and the whole game is lost. (idiom) |
| 慎入verb | shèn rù | keep away! |
| 许慎 | xǔ shèn | Xu Shen (-147) the compiler of the original Han dynasty dictionary Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字|说文解字 |
| 慎言 | shèn yán | to speak cautiously |
| 慎密adjective | shèn mì | cautious |
| 慎独verb | shèn dú | to preserve a proper behavior in private life |
慎 appears in 19 compound words: 37 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 21 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 慎 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
to cautiously perform the funeral rituals to deceased parents and sincerely pay homage to them at ceremonies
to cautiously perform the funeral rituals to deceased parents and sincerely pay homage to them at ceremonies
Example Sentences
投资需要谨慎，不要盲目跟风。
Tóuzī xūyào jǐnshèn, bùyào mángmù gēnfēng.
Investment requires caution; don't blindly follow trends.
春節連假收心大作戰 慎防孩子「開學症候群」5大建議
chūn 節 連 jiǎ shōu xīn dà zuò 戰 shèn fáng hái zǐ 開 學 zhèng hòu qún dà jiàn 議
Back-to-School Transition Guide: 5 Key Tips to Help Children Avoid "Back-to-School Syndrome" During the Spring Festival Break
收假別鬆懈慎防諾羅、腸病毒、B流 防疫重點一次看
shōu jiǎ 別 鬆 xiè shèn fáng 諾 羅 腸 bìng dú liú fáng yì chóng 點 yī cì kàn
Don't let your guard down after the holidays—stay vigilant against norovirus, enterovirus, and influenza B. Key prevention measures at a glance.
川普:加徵15%關稅 各國審慎 估不會撤銷與美協議
chuān pǔ jiā 徵 關 稅 gè 國 審 shèn gū bù 會 chè 銷 與 měi 協 議
Trump: 15% tariff hike, countries cautious, will not revoke the agreement with the United States.
美關稅新變局 涉外人士:審慎應對301條款調查
měi 關 稅 xīn 變 jú shè wài rén shì 審 shèn 應 對 條 kuǎn 調 chá
New U.S. Tariff Changes: Cautious Response to Section 301 Investigation
南阳一马戏团女演员高空表演不慎坠落,目击者称其坚持..
nán yáng yī mǎ xì tuán nǚ yǎn yuán gāo kōng biǎo yǎn bù shèn zhuì luò , mù jī zhě chèn qí jiān chí . .
Nanyang, a circus performer accidentally fell from a high altitude performance, witnesses said it insisted...
慎也娶了个漂亮姑娘。
Shènyě qǔ le ge piàoliang gūniang.
Shinya married a pretty girl.
选择朋友一定要十分谨慎。
Xuǎnzé péngyou yīdìngyào shífēn jǐnshèn.
You should choose your friends very carefully.
应该更谨慎地处理它。
Yīnggāi gèng jǐnshèn de chǔlǐ tā.
It must be done more carefully.
我一生都谨慎行事。
Wǒ yīshēng dōu jǐnshèn xíngshì.
I've been careful my whole life.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 忄 (heart) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 慎 (shèn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 慎 and 镇?
How many strokes does 慎 have?
What is the radical of 慎?
What are the components of 慎?
What are common words containing 慎?
What characters sound the same as 慎 (shèn)?
Is 慎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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