责 (zé): responsibility
责 (zé) is a Chinese character meaning “responsibility.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 龶 (structural) and 贝 (structural). It ranks #535 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 责 money 贝 that must be repaid. Its radical form 贝 (shell) appears in many related characters such as 贵 (guì, abbr. for Guizhou Province 貴州|贵州[Gui4 zhou1]), 负 (fù, to bear), 费 (fèi, to cost).
Definitions
- responsibility
Etymology & Origin
ideographicMoney 贝 that must be repaid
Decomposition: ⿱龶贝 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 责 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 责
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 负责verb/adjective | fù zé | to be responsible for | 4 |
| 责任noun | zé rèn | responsibility | 4 |
| 职责noun | zhí zé | duty | 6 |
| 指责verb | zhǐ zé | to criticize | 6 |
| 负责人noun | fù zé rén | person in charge | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 责怪 | zé guài | to blame |
| 自责 | zì zé | to blame oneself |
| 责备 | zé bèi | to blame |
| 谴责 | qiǎn zé | to denounce |
| 责任感 | zé rèn gǎn | sense of responsibility |
| 责任心 | zé rèn xīn | sense of responsibility |
| 责难 | zé nàn | to censure |
| 尽责 | jìn zé | to do one's duty |
| 罪责 | zuì zé | guilt |
| 免责 | miǎn zé | exemption from responsibility |
| 尽职尽责 | jìn zhí jìn zé | responsible and diligent (idiom) |
| 责骂 | zé mà | to scold |
| 斥责 | chì zé | to lash out |
| 责罚 | zé fá | to punish |
| 苛责 | kē zé | to criticize harshly |
责 appears in 75 compound words: 28 as the first character, 47 as the last, and 25 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 责 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (12)
to work halfheartedly; to go through the motions; to perform one's duty in a perfunctory manner
in order to minimally fulfill one's responsibilities; in order to get off the hook
novel of denunciation (according to Lu Xun's 魯迅|鲁迅[Lu3 Xun4] classification)
the author takes sole responsibility for the views expressed here (disclaimer)
to seek out the real nature based on the name (idiom); to judge sth at face value
the author takes sole responsibility for the views expressed here (disclaimer)
Example Sentences
作为领导，他要对团队的成败负责。
Zuòwéi lǐngdǎo, tā yào duì tuánduì de chéngbài fùzé.
As a leader, he is responsible for the team's success or failure.
涉造假访视纪录 剀剀案社工陈尚洁卸责:保母装爱小孩
shè zào jiǎ fǎng shì jì lù 剀 剀 àn shè gōng chén shàng jié xiè zé : bǎo mǔ zhuāng ài xiǎo hái
Involved in falsifying interview records Social worker Chen Shangjie shirked responsibility: the nanny pretended to love the child
...女研究所阿尔加维代表团的解散被认为是不负责任的行为
. . . nǚ yán jiū suǒ ā ěr jiā wéi dài biǎo tuán de jiě sàn bèi rèn wéi shì bù fù zé rèn de háng wéi
... The dissolution of the Algarve delegation of the Women Institute was considered irresponsible
台湾练习赛输韩职5分 2正选投手仅1责失
tái wān liàn xí sài shū hán zhí 5 fēn 2 zhèng xuǎn tóu shǒu jǐn 1 zé shī
Taiwan lost 5 points to the Korean professional league in the practice game, and 2 regular pitchers only 1 error
广东一公司发帖“悬赏60万寻狗”,公司负责人称“赏..
guǎng dōng yī gōng sī fā tiē xuán shǎng mò xún gǒu , gōng sī fù zé rén chèn shǎng . .
A company in Guangdong posted a "reward of 600,000 yuan to find the dog", the company said "reward...
福建老太骑车摔倒,扶人女孩被定次责索赔22万,母亲..
fú jiàn lǎo tài qí chē shuāi dǎo , fú rén nǚ hái bèi dìng cì zé suǒ péi mò , mǔ qīn . .
Fujian old woman fell down on a bike, helping the girl was held responsible for 220,000, the mother...
他是营销部的负责人。
Tā shì yíngxiāo bù de fùzérén.
He's the manager of the marketing department.
太郎有很强的责任感。
Tàiláng yǒu hěn qiáng de zérèngǎn.
Taro has a strong sense of responsibility.
他们指责我没有信守诺言。
Tāmen zhǐzé wǒ méiyǒu xìnshǒu nuòyán.
They accused me of having broken my promise.
无论如何，我也尽了我的责任。
Wúlùnrúhé, wǒ yě jìn le wǒ de zérèn.
In any case, I did my duty.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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