HSK 6 · Emotions

冲动 chōngdòng “impulse” in Chinese

Traditional 衝動

What 冲动 means

  1. impulse
  2. impulsive
  3. to have an urge
  4. to be impetuous
  5. urge

How to say 冲动

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale冲chōng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale动dòng4th tone, falling

冲动 in a sentence

  1. 他叫自己的妻子不要冲动购物。

    Tā jiào zìjǐ de qīzi búyào chōngdòng gòuwù.

    He told his wife not to shop on impulse.

    Sentence #3149362 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 冲动 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 冲 (chōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
冲chōngto dash against
  • 冫ice · bīngMeaning part
  • 中central · zhōngSound part

冫 hints at the meaning (ice); 中 (zhōng) hints at the sound. Compare it with chōng.

The character 动 (dòng) with each of its parts in a different colour
动dòngto move
  • 云cloud · yún
  • 力strength · lìMeaning part

Memory aidStrength 力 makes things move. In the full form 動, 重 (zhòng) gave the sound.

How to write 冲动

冲 6 strokes · 动 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 冲动

Words with 冲

冲chōng · to rush冲突chōngtū · conflict冲击chōngjī · impact

Words with 动

动dòng · to move运动yùndòng · to exercise动物dòngwù · animal动物园dòngwùyuán · zoo运动员yùndòngyuán · athlete运动会yùndònghuì · sports meet活动huódòng · activity感动gǎndòng · to be moved激动jīdòng · excited动作dòngzuò · movement

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

不屑一顾búxièyígù · to disdain诧异chàyì · astonished称心如意chènxīnrúyì · to be completely satisfied崇拜chóngbài · to worship崇敬chóngjìng · to revere胆怯dǎnqiè · timid惦记diànjì · to keep thinking about敌视díshì · to be hostile to

FAQs

冲动 (chōngdòng) means “impulse” or “impulsive”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it chōngdòng: chōng with a 1st tone, then dòng 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, 冲动 is written 衝動. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type chongdong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 冲动 from the suggestions. Typing chongdong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
冲动 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.