HSK 6 · Adjectives

刻不容缓 kèbùrónghuǎn “extremely urgent” in Chinese

Traditional 刻不容緩

What 刻不容缓 means

  1. extremely urgent
  2. allowing no delay
  3. to brook no delay
  4. to demand immediate action

How to say 刻不容缓

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale刻kè4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale不bù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale容róng2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale缓huǎn3rd tone, dipping

刻不容缓 in a sentence

  1. 保护环境刻不容缓。

    Bǎohù huánjìng kèbùrónghuǎn.

    Protecting the environment is extremely urgent.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这件事刻不容缓，我们马上就办。

    Zhè jiàn shì kèbùrónghuǎn, wǒmen mǎshàng jiù bàn.

    This can’t wait; we’ll deal with it straight away.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 刻不容缓 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 刻 (kè) with each of its parts in a different colour
刻kèquarter
  • 亥part of the characterSound part
  • 刂knife form of 刀 · dāoMeaning part
The character 不 (bù) drawn as one shape
不bùno; not so

不 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidPicture a bar 一 across the top that nothing below can get past: not, no.

The character 容 (róng) with each of its parts in a different colour
容róngto hold
  • 宀roof · miánMeaning part
  • 谷valley · gǔ

Memory aidA roof 宀 over a valley 谷, with room to hold things: to contain.

The character 缓 (huǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
缓huǎnslow
  • 纟silk form of 糸 · mìMeaning part
  • 爰to lead on to · yuánSound part

纟 hints at the meaning (silk); 爰 (yuán) hints at the sound. Compare it with huǎn.

How to write 刻不容缓

刻 8 strokes · 不 4 strokes · 容 10 strokes · 缓 12 strokes

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

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

Words related to 刻不容缓

Words with 刻

刻kè · quarter hour立刻lìkè · immediately时刻shíkè · time刻苦kèkǔ · hardworking深刻shēnkè · profound片刻piànkè · a moment雕刻diāokè · to carve

Words with 不

不bù · no不要bùyào · don’t!不客气bú kèqi · you’re welcome对不起duìbuqǐ · sorry不错bùcuò · not bad不好意思bùhǎoyìsi · to feel embarrassed不但búdàn · not only不同bùtóng · different不少bùshǎo · quite a few不见bújiàn · to be missing

Words with 容

容易róngyì · easy内容nèiróng · content形容xíngróng · to describe容貌róngmào · looks阵容zhènróng · line-up (of a team or cast)容纳róngnà · to hold从容cóngróng · calm宽容kuānróng · tolerant容忍róngrěn · to tolerate容器róngqì · container

Words with 缓

缓解huǎnjiě · to bring relief缓和huǎnhé · to ease迟缓chíhuǎn · slow

More words: Adjectives

开阔kāikuò · wide开朗kāilǎng · cheerful开明kāimíng · enlightened慷慨kāngkǎi · generous可观kěguān · considerable恳切kěnqiè · earnest可行kěxíng · feasible空洞kōngdòng · empty

FAQs

刻不容缓 (kèbùrónghuǎn) means “extremely urgent” or “allowing no delay”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it kèbùrónghuǎn: kè with a 4th tone, then bù with a 4th tone, then róng with a 2nd tone, then huǎn with a 3rd 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, 刻不容缓 is written 刻不容緩. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type keburonghuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 刻不容缓 from the suggestions. Typing keburonghuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
刻不容缓 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.