窄 (zhǎi): narrow
窄 (zhǎi) is a Chinese character meaning “narrow.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 穴 (semantic) and 乍 (phonetic). It ranks #2189 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 窄 cave. Its radical form 穴 (cave) appears in many related characters such as 穿 (chuān, to wear, 穿透), 空 (kōng, empty, sky), 突 (tū, sudden).
Definitions
- narrow
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 窄 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 狭窄 | xiá zhǎi | narrow |
| 窄小 | zhǎi xiǎo | narrow and small |
| 宽打窄用 | kuān dǎ zhǎi yòng | to give oneself leeway (idiom) |
| 心窄 | xīn zhǎi | narrow-minded |
| 冤家路窄 | yuān jiā lù zhǎi | lit. for enemies, the road is narrow (idiom) |
| 地窄人稠 | dì zhǎi rén chóu | see 地狹人稠|地狭人稠[di4 xia2 ren2 chou2] |
| 心胸狭窄 | xīn xiōng xiá zhǎi | (idiom) narrow-minded |
| 二尖瓣狭窄 | èr jiān bàn xiá zhǎi | mitral stenosis (physiology) |
| 宽窄 | kuān zhǎi | width |
| 尖窄 | jiān zhǎi | pointy |
| 窄缝 | zhǎi fèng | narrow gap |
| 窄狭 | zhǎi xiá | see 狹窄|狭窄[xia2 zhai3] |
| 窄巷 | zhǎi xiàng | narrow alley |
窄 appears in 13 compound words: 31 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 15 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 窄 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
这条巷子太窄了，汽车开不进去。
Zhè tiáo xiàngzi tài zhǎi le, qìchē kāi bù jìnqu.
This alley is too narrow; cars can't drive in.
女孩子下面窄到一根手指都疼是怎么回事?需要心理咨询辅...
nǚ hái zǐ xià miàn zhǎi dào yī gēn shǒu zhǐ dōu téng shì zěn má huí shì ? xū yāo xīn lǐ zī xún fǔ . . .
What's going on with a girl who is so narrow that a finger hurts? Need psychological counseling assistance...
女孩子下面窄到一根手指都疼是怎么回事?需要做B超检查...
nǚ hái zǐ xià miàn zhǎi dào yī gēn shǒu zhǐ dōu téng shì zěn má huí shì ? xū yāo zuò chāo jiǎn chá . . .
What's going on with a girl who is so narrow that a finger hurts? Need to do a B-ultrasound examination...
女孩子下面窄到一根手指都疼是怎么回事?严重时是否需要...
nǚ hái zǐ xià miàn zhǎi dào yī gēn shǒu zhǐ dōu téng shì zěn má huí shì ? yán chóng shí shì fǒu xū yāo . . .
What's going on with a girl who is so narrow that a finger hurts? Is it necessary in severe cases...
女孩子下面窄到一根手指都疼是怎么回事?是不是长期不用...
nǚ hái zǐ xià miàn zhǎi dào yī gēn shǒu zhǐ dōu téng shì zěn má huí shì ? shì bù shì cháng qī bù yòng . . .
What's going on with a girl who is so narrow that a finger hurts? Is it not used for a long time...
...orobotics財報受關注,虧損持續收窄
. . . 財 報 shòu 關 zhù , 虧 損 chí 續 shōu zhǎi
[Translation pending - API quota exceeded]
胡同是一种跟中国北京有关的窄街路。
Hútòng shì yīzhǒng gēn Zhōngguó Běijīng yǒuguān de zhǎi jiē lù.
Hutongs are a type of narrow street, most commonly associated with Beijing, China.
这条路对汽车来说太窄了。
Zhè tiáo lù duì qìchē lái shuō tài zhǎi le.
The road is too narrow for cars.
这个角度会过于狭窄。
Zhège jiǎodù huì guòyú xiázhǎi.
The angle would be too narrow.
门太窄了，这辆车通不过。
Mén tài zhǎi le, zhè liàng chē tōng bùguò.
The gate is so narrow that the car can't pass through it.
Character Family
穴 Radical Family — Characters sharing the cave radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 窄 (zhǎi) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 窄 and 宽?
How many strokes does 窄 have?
What is the radical of 窄?
What are the components of 窄?
What are common words containing 窄?
What characters sound the same as 窄 (zhǎi)?
Is 窄 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 窄 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.