HSK 6 · Ideas

争先恐后 zhēngxiānkǒnghòu “to compete eagerly” in Chinese

Traditional 爭先恐後

What 争先恐后 means

  1. to compete eagerly
  2. to strive to be first
  3. (idiom) to compete to be first
  4. to scramble to get ahead
  5. to rush forward for fear of falling behind

How to say 争先恐后

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale争zhēng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale先xiān1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale恐kǒng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale后hòu4th tone, falling

争先恐后 in a sentence

  1. 孩子们争先恐后地回答问题。

    Háizimen zhēngxiānkǒnghòu de huídá wèntí.

    The children scrambled to answer the questions.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 商店一开门，顾客们就争先恐后地进去了。

    Shāngdiàn yì kāimén, gùkèmen jiù zhēngxiānkǒnghòu de jìnqù le.

    As soon as the shop opened, customers jostled to get in.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 争先恐后 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 争 (zhēng) with each of its parts in a different colour
争zhēngto strive for
  • ⺈knife form of 刀 · dāo
  • 彐snout · jì
  • 亅hook · jué
The character 先 (xiān) drawn as one shape
先xiānbeforehand; first; earlier

先 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidA foot 止 out in front of a person 儿: ahead, first.

The character 恐 (kǒng) with each of its parts in a different colour
恐kǒngafraid
  • 巩to bind · gǒngSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 巩 (gǒng) hints at the sound. Compare it with kǒng.

The character 后 (hòu) drawn as one shape
后hòuempress

后 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidIts first meaning was “queen”. As a simplified character it also stands for 後: behind, after.

How to write 争先恐后

争 6 strokes · 先 6 strokes · 恐 10 strokes · 后 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 争先恐后

Words with 争

竞争jìngzhēng · to compete争论zhēnglùn · to argue争取zhēngqǔ · to fight for战争zhànzhēng · war力争lìzhēng · to strive for争夺zhēngduó · to fight over争气zhēngqì · to try hard not to disappoint斗争dòuzhēng · struggle争端zhēngduān · dispute争议zhēngyì · dispute

Words with 先

先生xiānsheng · mr先xiān · first首先shǒuxiān · first (of all)事先shìxiān · in advance祖先zǔxiān · ancestor先前xiānqián · before原先yuánxiān · originally预先yùxiān · in advance领先lǐngxiān · to lead先进xiānjìn · advanced

Words with 恐

恐怕kǒngpà · I’m afraid (that)恐吓kǒnghè · to threaten恐怖kǒngbù · terror恐惧kǒngjù · fear

Words with 后

后hòu · after后面hòumiàn · back后来hòulái · afterwards最后zuìhòu · last然后ránhòu · then以后yǐhòu · after后天hòutiān · the day after tomorrow后年hòunián · the year after next后悔hòuhuǐ · to regret之后zhīhòu · after

More words: Ideas & Concepts

战略zhànlüè · strategy战术zhànshù · tactics展望zhǎnwàng · outlook正气zhèngqì · integrity真理zhēnlǐ · truth真相zhēnxiàng · the truth指标zhǐbiāo · indicator支柱zhīzhù · pillar

FAQs

争先恐后 (zhēngxiānkǒnghòu) means “to compete eagerly” or “to strive to be first”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zhēngxiānkǒnghòu: zhēng with a 1st tone, then xiān with a 1st tone, then kǒng with a 3rd tone, then hòu 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, 争先恐后 is written 爭先恐後. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhengxiankonghou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 争先恐后 from the suggestions. Typing zhengxiankonghou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
争先恐后 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.