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谨慎 (jǐn shèn) — cautious; prudent

Definition

More formal and weightier than 小心 or 仔细 — 'cautious/prudent' in serious decisions, not everyday tasks. Closer in tone to 慎重; 小心翼翼 is the chengyu extreme.

adjective
cautiousprudent

Examples

  • 谨慎。
    Tóu zī qián yí dìng yào jǐn shèn kǎo lǜ.
    You must consider carefully before investing.
  • 谨慎，。
    Tā shuō huà hěn jǐn shèn, cóng bù suí biàn chéng nuò.
    He speaks very cautiously and never makes promises casually.
  • 谨慎。
    Zài mò shēng huán jìng lǐ yào jǐn shèn xíng shì.
    You should act cautiously in unfamiliar environments.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

谨jǐncareful
慎shèncautious

谨 ('careful') and 慎 ('cautious') reinforce each other to mean prudent.

Characters in this word

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 謹; 谨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
堇
堇jǐn謹jǐn
Same sound today

The traditional form 謹 has 言, speech, beside 堇, which gives the sound; the whole character means to speak cautiously. The simplified 谨 is a shorthand.

Open 谨 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
真
真zhēn慎shèn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 慎, the left part 心 points to the mind or feeling, while the right part 真 supplies the sound.

Open 慎 →
Appears in
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