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首要 (shǒu yào) — primary, foremost, of chief importance

Definition

首要 means 'foremost' or 'top-priority' — the single most important item among several. Stronger than 重要 ('important') and more emphatic than 主要 ('main'); implies this one comes first above all others.

adjective
primaryforemostof chief importance

Examples

  • 首要。
    Ān quán shì gōng sī de shǒu yào rèn wu.
    Safety is the company's primary task.
  • 首要。
    Tā de shǒu yào mù biāo shì kǎo shàng dà xué.
    His primary goal is to get into university.
  • 首要？
    Zhè ge wèn tí de shǒu yào yuán yīn shì shén me?
    What is the primary cause of this problem?

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.

首shǒuchief/first
要yàoimportant

首 means chief or first, and 要 means important; together they express chief importance.

Characters in this word

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

The shape comes from an old drawing of an animal's head, showing a long mouth and horns; the version with hair became 首.

Open 首 →

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.

Open 要 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Good & Bad

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