(zūn): senior, of a senior generation, to honor

(zūn) is a Chinese character meaning “senior.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #1132 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a hand 寸 making an offering of wine 酋. Its radical form (inch) appears in many related characters such as (duì, right), (fēng, to confer), (dǎo, to transmit).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. senior
  2. of a senior generation
  3. to honor

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA hand 寸 making an offering of wine 酋

Decomposition: ⿱酋寸 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
verb/adjectivezūn zhòngto esteem4
verb/adjectivezūn jìngto respect5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
zūn yándignity
zì zūnself-respect
zūn guìrespected
zì zūn xīnself-respect
lìng zūnYour esteemed father (honorific)
zūn chóngto revere
zūn zhǎngone's superior
zūn chēngto address sb deferentially
wàng zì zūn dàridiculous self-importance (idiom)
qū zūnto condescend
yǎng zūn chǔ yōuto live like a prince (idiom)
zūn róngaugust countenance
zūn rónghonor and glory
dú zūnto revere as sole orthodoxy
dìng yú yī zūn(idiom) to rely on a single authority to determine what is correct
65
Total compounds
49
As first character
25
As last character
26
As middle character

appears in 65 compound words: 49 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 26 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

jìng
0.59933,904 co-occurrences
cūn
0.55815 co-occurrences
rǎng
0.4961,236 co-occurrences
chóng
0.49682,580 co-occurrences
bēi
0.4563,876 co-occurrences
chóng
0.45410,086 co-occurrences
yán
0.4408,526 co-occurrences
zhuī
0.43414,472 co-occurrences
pǐn
0.40815 co-occurrences
diāo
0.4074,590 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (15)

ān fù zūn róngHSK 5+

well-off and respected (idiom); to be content with one's wealth and position

phrase
dìngyúyīzūnHSK 4+

to regard the supreme authority as the only standard

phrase
dúzūnrúshùHSK 7+

to revere only Confucianism

phrase
jìng lǎo zūn xiánHSK 7+

to respect the wise and venerate the worthy (idiom); to honor the great and the good

phrase
miǎn kāi zūn kǒuHSK 4+

keep your thoughts to yourself

phrase
nánzūnnǚbēiHSK 7+

male domination and female subordination; male chauvinism; treatment of females as inferior to males

noun
shí cái zūn xiánHSK 7+

to recognize talent and have great respect for it

phrase
wàngzìzūndàHSK 7+

to be arrogant; to be self-important; to suffer from megalomania

phrase
便xītīngzūnbiànHSK 4+

according to your preference

phrase
yǎngzūnchǔyōuHSK 4+

to live one's whole life in opulence and enjoying high social status

phrase
zūn shī guì dàoHSK 4+

to revere the master and his teaching

phrase
zūn xián ài wùHSK 7+

to honor the wise and love the people; respecting noble talent while protecting the common people

phrase

Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

zhè gě zūn zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .

The character "尊" carries different meanings in classical Chinese.

中時新聞網Mar 2026

王祖贤矽谷现身本超温柔!网酸“桃花眼变了”惹怒粉丝

wáng zǔ xián 矽 gǔ xiàn shēn běn zūn chāo wēn róu ! wǎng suān táo huā yǎn biàn le rě nù fěn sī

Chia-Hsien Wang Spotted in Silicon Valley—She’s So Sweet! Netizens’ Jibes That Her “Almond-Shaped Eyes Have Changed” Anger Fans

99 健康网Mar 2026

唐氏综合征孩子可生么?伦理上重生命但需评估现实条件吗

táng shì zèng gě zhēng hái zǐ kě shēng má ? lún lǐ shàng zūn chóng shēng mìng dàn xū píng gū xiàn shí tiáo jiàn ma

Can I have a child with Down syndrome? Is it ethically respectful of life but needs to be evaluated in real conditions?

WorldjournalFeb 2026

...手袭伊朗 中国外交部:伊朗主权、安全应获

. . . shǒu xí yī lǎng zhōng guó wài jiāo bù : yī lǎng zhǔ quán , ān quán yīng huò zūn chóng

... Hand attack on Iran Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Iran's sovereignty and security should be respected

It之家Feb 2026

...广东登顶全国“最爱发红包”省份;鸿蒙智行界 SUV 伪装车曝光;月之暗面成国内最...

. . . guǎng dōng dēng dǐng quán guó zuì ài fā hóng bāo shěng fèn ; 鸿 méng zhì háng zūn jiè S U V wěi zhuāng chē pù guāng ; yuè zhī àn miàn chéng guó nèi zuì . . .

... Guangdong topped the national "favorite red envelope" province; HarmonyOS Zhixing Zunjie SUV camouflage car exposed; The dark side of the moon has become the most...

Irna ChineseFeb 2026

外交部长:要用重的语言与伊朗人民对话

wài jiāo bù cháng : yāo yòng zūn chóng de yǔ yán yǔ yī lǎng rén mín duì huà

Foreign Minister: We must dialogue with the Iranian people in respectful language

Tatoeba

他的谦逊值得敬。

Tā de qiānxùn zhíde zūnjìng.

His modesty is worth respecting.

Tatoeba

年轻人应该敬老人。

Niánqīngrén yīnggāi zūnjìng lǎorén.

The young should respect the old.

Tatoeba

了解他的人都重他。

Liǎojiě tā de rén dōu zūnzhòng tā.

Whoever knows him well respects him.

Tatoeba

英国人很重法序和秩序。

Yīngguórén hěn zūnzhòng fǎ xù hé zhìxù.

The British have a lot of respect for law and order.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced zūn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 尊 (zūn) mean in Chinese?
尊 (zūn) primarily means "senior." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #1132 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 尊 have?
尊 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 尊?
The radical associated with 尊 is 寸 (inch). This radical appears in many characters related to inch.
What are the components of 尊?
尊 is composed of: 酋 (structural), 寸 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱酋寸 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 尊?
Common words with 尊 include: 尊重 (zūn zhòng, "to esteem"); 尊敬 (zūn jìng, "to respect"); 尊严 (zūn yán, "dignity"); 自尊 (zì zūn, "self-respect"); 尊贵 (zūn guì, "respected"). There are over 65 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 尊 (zūn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zūn: 遵 (to observe). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 尊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 尊 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.