滞 (zhì): (bound form) sluggish, stagnant
滞 (zhì) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) sluggish.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 带 (phonetic). It ranks #2240 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 滞 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- (bound form) sluggish
- stagnant
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 滞 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 停滞 | tíng zhì | stagnation |
| 滞留 | zhì liú | (of a person) to remain in (a place) (due to circumstances that prevent one leaving) |
| 停滞不前 | tíng zhì bù qián | stuck and not moving forward (idiom) |
| 阻滞 | zǔ zhì | to clog up |
| 呆滞 | dāi zhì | dull |
| 滞后 | zhì hòu | to lag behind |
| 滞纳金 | zhì nà jīn | overdue fine |
| 滞销 | zhì xiāo | to sell poorly |
| 迟滞 | chí zhì | delay |
| 凝滞 | níng zhì | to stagnate |
| 迟滞现象 | chí zhì xiàn xiàng | hysteresis |
| 目光呆滞 | mù guāng dāi zhì | to have a lifeless look in one's eyes (idiom) |
| 滞期费 | zhì qī fèi | demurrage charge (shipping) (currency) |
| 气滞 | qì zhì | stagnation of 氣|气[qi4] (TCM) |
| 滞留锋 | zhì liú fēng | stationary front (meteorology) |
滞 appears in 26 compound words: 35 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 12 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 滞 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
暴雨过后，滞水上涨，淹没了低洼的街道。
bào yǔ guò hòu , zhì shuǐ shǎng zhǎng , yān méi le dī 洼 de jiē dào .
After the downpour, the standing water rose, flooding the low-lying streets.
百名观光客滞留!墨西哥贩毒集团暴乱 多家航空取消航班
bǎi míng guàn guāng kè zhì liú ! mò xī gē fàn dú jí tuán bào luàn duō jiā háng kōng qǔ xiāo háng bān
Hundreds of tourists are stranded! Mexican drug cartel riots Several airlines canceled flights
神情呆滞不哭闹!剀剀生前的心碎影像曝
shén qíng dāi zhì bù kū nào ! 剀 剀 shēng qián de xīn suì yǐng xiàng pù
Don't cry with a dull expression! The heartbreak images before his death were exposed
...故 约20人受困5.5小时 1200游客滞留观景台
. . . gù yuē 2 0 rén shòu kùn 5 . 5 xiǎo shí 1 2 0 0 yóu kè zhì liú guàn jǐng tái
... Therefore, about 20 people were trapped for 5.5 hours, and 1,200 tourists were stranded on the observation deck
...塔爆电梯急坠事故 约20人受困 大批游客滞留观景台
. . . tǎ bào diàn tī jí zhuì shì gù yuē 2 0 rén shòu kùn dà pī yóu kè zhì liú guàn jǐng tái
... About 20 people were trapped in the tower explosion elevator crash and a large number of tourists were stranded on the observation deck
阿尔及尔从不停滞不前。
ā'ěrjí'ěr cóngbù tíngzhìbùqián.
Algiers never stands still.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 滞 (zhì) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 滞 (zhì)?
Is 滞 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 滞 with real-time feedback
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