重要 (zhòng yào) — important, significant, major | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

The everyday word for 'important' — used widely for people, things, events, and decisions. 重大 is more formal and typically reserved for major issues (e.g. national, medical), while 主要 means 'main/primary' rather than 'important'.

adjective

importantsignificantmajor

Examples

重要，。
Zhè ge gōng zuò hěn zhòng yào, nǐ yào rèn zhēn zuò.
This job is very important; you have to do it carefully.
重要，。
Xué xí zhōng wén hěn zhòng yào, nǐ yào jiā yóu.
Learning Chinese is important, you need to work hard.
重要，。
Míng tiān de huì yì hěn zhòng yào, nǐ bù néng chí dào.
Tomorrow's meeting is very important; you can't be late.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

重zhòngweighty

要yàoessential

重 means weighty and 要 means essential, so together they express something that matters greatly.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

東

東dōng重zhòng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 3 500 Most Frequent Chinese Words HSK 2.0 Level 3 1000 Most Frequent Chinese Words Good & Bad 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 3 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.