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关头 (guān tóu) — (noun) critical moment; juncture

Definition

关头 (guāntóu) names a make-or-break 'critical juncture' — the decisive turning point, not a neutral stretch of time. Pairs with 关键/紧要; 时刻 and 时候 cover any moment, while 关头 stresses high stakes.

noun
critical momentjuncture

Examples

  • ，。
    Zài jǐn yào guān tóu, tā zuò chū le zhèng què de jué dìng.
    At the critical moment, he made the right decision.
  • 关头，。
    Zhè shì jué dìng gōng sī mìng yùn de guān tóu, bù néng chū cuò.
    This is a juncture that decides the company's fate.
  • 关头，。
    Zài zhàn zhēng de guān jiàn guān tóu, tā men xuǎn zé le chè tuì.
    At the critical juncture of the war, they chose to retreat.

Origin

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.

关guāncritical
头tóupoint

关 gives the sense of a critical point, and 头 names the moment or juncture.

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 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門méndoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢇅
𢇅𢇅關guān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

Open 关 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

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