HSK 6 · Ideas

周折 zhōuzhé “twists and turns” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 周折 means

  1. twists and turns
  2. complications
  3. setbacks
  4. vicissitude
  5. complication
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • difficulty
  • effort

Measure word 番 fān · 一番周折 yì fān zhōuzhé

How to say 周折

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale周zhōu1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale折zhé2nd tone, rising

周折 in a sentence

  1. 经过一番周折，我终于拿到了签证。

    Jīngguò yì fān zhōuzhé, wǒ zhōngyú nádào le qiānzhèng.

    After a lot of trouble, I finally got my visa.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 没想到办这件事这么费周折。

    Méi xiǎngdào bàn zhè jiàn shì zhème fèi zhōuzhé.

    I didn’t expect this to be such a hassle.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 周折 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 周 (zhōu) with each of its parts in a different colour
周zhōuto make a circuit
  • 冂down box · jiōng
  • 土earth · tǔ
  • 口mouth · kǒu
The character 折 (zhé) with each of its parts in a different colour
折zhéto break
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒu
  • 斤axe · jīn

How to write 周折

周 8 strokes · 折 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 周折

Words with 周

周zhōu · week周末zhōumò · weekend周围zhōuwéi · environs周到zhōudào · thoughtful周年zhōunián · anniversary周期zhōuqī · cycle周边zhōubiān · surrounding周密zhōumì · thorough周转zhōuzhuǎn · turnover众所周知zhòngsuǒzhōuzhī · as everyone knows

Words with 折

打折dǎzhé · to give a discount折zhé · to break折磨zhémo · to torment折腾zhēteng · to toss and turn曲折qūzhé · winding挫折cuòzhé · setback转折zhuǎnzhé · turning point

More words: Ideas & Concepts

真相zhēnxiàng · the truth指标zhǐbiāo · indicator支柱zhīzhù · pillar重心zhòngxīn · centre of gravity转折zhuǎnzhé · turning point主流zhǔliú · mainstream准则zhǔnzé · principle主义zhǔyì · -ism

FAQs

周折 (zhōuzhé) means “twists and turns” or “complications”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zhōuzhé: zhōu with a 1st tone, then zhé with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 周折 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 番 (fān). For example, one twists and turns is 一番周折 (yì fān zhōuzhé).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhouzhe with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 周折 from the suggestions. Typing zhouzhe into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
周折 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.