HSK 6 · Adjectives

迟钝 chídùn “slow-witted” in Chinese

Traditional 遲鈍

What 迟钝 means

  1. slow-witted
  2. dull
  3. slow to react
  4. slow in one’s reactions
  5. sluggish (in movement or thought)

How to say 迟钝

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale迟chí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale钝dùn4th tone, falling

迟钝 in a sentence

  1. 我早上刚起床的时候反应很迟钝。

    Wǒ zǎoshang gāng qǐchuáng de shíhou fǎnyìng hěn chídùn.

    When I first wake up in the morning I’m really slow to react.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 他对别人的感受有点儿迟钝。

    Tā duì biéren de gǎnshòu yǒudiǎnr chídùn.

    He’s a bit slow to pick up on how other people feel.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 迟钝 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 迟 (chí) with each of its parts in a different colour
迟chílate
  • 尺part of the characterSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part
The character 钝 (dùn) with each of its parts in a different colour
钝dùnblunt
  • 钅gold form of 金 · jīnMeaning part
  • 屯village · túnSound part

钅 hints at the meaning (gold); 屯 (tún) hints at the sound. Compare it with dùn.

How to write 迟钝

迟 7 strokes · 钝 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

迟钝 (chídùn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 迟钝 (chídùn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 迟钝

Words with 迟

迟到chídào · arrive late推迟tuīchí · to postpone迟早chízǎo · sooner or later迟疑chíyí · to hesitate迟缓chíhuǎn · slow

More words: Adjectives

陈旧chénjiù · outdated沉闷chénmèn · oppressive沉重chénzhòng · heavy沉着chénzhuó · calm and collected迟缓chíhuǎn · slow持久chíjiǔ · lasting吃力chīlì · strenuous崇高chónggāo · lofty

FAQs

迟钝 (chídùn) means “slow-witted” or “dull”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it chídùn: chí with a 2nd tone, then dùn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 迟钝 is written 遲鈍. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type chidun with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 迟钝 from the suggestions. Typing chidun into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
迟钝 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.