职 (zhí): job, duty
职 (zhí) is a Chinese character meaning “job, duty.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 耳 (semantic) and 只 (phonetic). It ranks #616 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 职 ear. Its radical form 耳 (ear) appears in many related characters such as 闻 (wén, to hear, to smell), 联 (lián, connect, unite), 耳 (ěr, ear).
Definitions
- job, duty
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 职 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 职
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 职业noun | zhí yè | occupation | 4 |
| 辞职verb | cí zhí | to resign | 5 |
| 职责noun | zhí zé | duty | 6 |
| 职位noun | zhí wèi | position | 6 |
| 职员noun | zhí yuán | office worker | 6 |
| 兼职verb/noun | jiān zhí | to hold concurrent posts | 6 |
| 职务noun | zhí wù | post | 6 |
| 离职verb | lí zhí | to leave one's job temporarily (e.g. for study) | 5 |
| 职工noun | zhí gōng | employee | 5 |
| 职场noun | zhí chǎng | workplace | 5 |
| 求职verb | qiú zhí | to seek employment | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 称职 | chèn zhí | well qualified |
| 停职 | tíng zhí | to suspend (sb) from duties |
| 就职 | jiù zhí | to take office |
| 复职 | fù zhí | to resume a post |
| 职权 | zhí quán | authority |
| 任职 | rèn zhí | to hold a post |
| 尽职 | jìn zhí | to discharge one's duties |
| 失职 | shī zhí | to neglect one's duty |
| 殉职 | xùn zhí | to die in the line of duty |
| 职守 | zhí shǒu | duty |
| 专职 | zhuān zhí | special duty |
| 渎职 | dú zhí | to engage in malfeasance |
| 文职 | wén zhí | civilian post (as opposed to military) |
| 在职 | zài zhí | to be employed |
| 尽职尽责 | jìn zhí jìn zé | responsible and diligent (idiom) |
职 appears in 100 compound words: 23 as the first character, 62 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 职 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
Example Sentences
他的职业是医生，每天都很忙碌。
Tā de zhíyè shì yīshēng, měitiān dōu hěn mánglù.
His profession is a doctor; he is very busy every day.
...我的家·新春走基层丨湖南裕能:600余名职..
. . . wǒ de jiā xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 hú nán yù néng : 6 0 0 yú míng zhí . .
... My Home, New Year to the grassroots丨Hunan Yuneng: more than 600 positions:
2025年收获满满,山东信息职业技术学院向合作单位..
nián shōu huò mǎn mǎn , shān dōng xìn xī zhí yè jì shù xué yuàn xiàng gě zuò shàn wèi . .
2025: A Year of Abundant Harvests Shandong Information Vocational College extends its gratitude to partner institutions...
「春节在岗职工电台」敬你的坚守,敬你的努力!
chūn jié zài gāng zhí gōng diàn tái jìng nǐ de jiān shǒu , jìng nǐ de nǔ lì !
"Spring Festival On-Duty Workers Radio" To your dedication, to your hard work!
...移民政策支持率创新低 国土安全部发言人离职
. . . yí mín zhèng cè zhī chí lǜ chuàng xīn dī guó tǔ ān quán bù fā yán rén chī zhí
Support for immigration policies hits record low as Homeland Security spokesperson resigns
...杉矶奥组委主席涉爱泼斯坦案,市长呼吁其辞职
. . . 杉 矶 ào zǔ wěi zhǔ xí shè ài pō sī tǎn àn , shì cháng hū xū qí cí zhí
Los Angeles Olympic Bid Committee Chairman Implicated in Epstein Case; Mayor Calls for His Resignation
她决心要辞职离开公司。
Tā juéxīn yào cízhí líkāi gōngsī.
She is determined to leave the company.
与其让我在他手下干，我宁愿辞职。
Yǔqí ràng wǒ zài tā shǒuxià gàn, wǒ nìngyuàn cízhí.
I would rather quit than work under him.
他们要求市长辞职。
Tāmen yāoqiú shìzhǎng cízhí.
They requested the mayor to resign.
让我们非常惊讶的是，他突然辞职了。
Ràng wǒmen fēicháng jīngyà de shì, tā tūrán cízhí le.
What shocked us greatly was his sudden resignation.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 职 (zhí) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 职 and 识?
How many strokes does 职 have?
What is the radical of 职?
What are the components of 职?
What are common words containing 职?
What characters sound the same as 职 (zhí)?
Is 职 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 职 with real-time feedback
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