踌躇 (chóu chú) — to hesitate, to waver, to be indecisive

Definition

Literary verb meaning 'to hesitate' — describes lingering indecision, as in 踌躇不决 ('hesitate and cannot decide'). More formal and weighty than everyday 犹豫.

verb
to hesitateto waverto be indecisive

Examples

  • 踌躇,。
    Tā zhàn zài mén kǒu chóu chú le yí xià, rán hòu tuī mén jìn qù.
    He hesitated at the door for a moment, then pushed the door and went in.
  • 踌躇。
    Tā chóu chú zhe shì fǒu yào jiē shòu nà ge gōng zuò jī huì.
    She hesitated over whether to accept that job offer.
  • ,踌躇。
    Miàn duì rú cǐ zhòng yào de jué dìng, tā chóu chú bù jué.
    Faced with such an important decision, he was indecisive.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

踌chóu
躇chú

The characters 踌 and 躇 carry no meaning on their own here; together they express hesitation.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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