要职 (yào zhí) — important post; key position

Definition

noun

important postkey position

Measure word · 个

要职。
Tā zài zhèng fǔ zhōng dān rèn yào zhí.
He holds an important post in the government.
要职。
Zhè ge gōng sī de gāo céng yào zhí jìng zhēng hěn jī liè.
Competition for key positions at this company's senior level is fierce.
要职，。
Tā cí qù le yào zhí, xuǎn zé qù jī céng gōng zuò.
She resigned from her important post and chose to work at the grassroots level.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

要yàoimportant

要 gives importance and 职 gives a post, so the word means an important position.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

要 began as a drawing of a person with both hands pointing to the waist.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 職; 职 is its simplified writing.

耳戠職

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

戠

戠zhí職zhí

Same sound today

The traditional form 職 pairs 耳 (ear) with 戠, which gives its sound; the simplified 职 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.