Chinese word

催

Pronunciation

Pinyincuī

Meaning

  • verburge

Example

他一直在催我交作业。tā yì zhí zài cuī wǒ jiāo zuò yè

He keeps urging me to hand in my homework.

Illustration for 催 (urge)

More examples

经理一直在催我们回复邮件。jīng lǐ yì zhí zài cuī wǒ men huí fù yóu jiàn

The manager keeps urging us to reply to the email.

Core concept

Push a person or process toward earlier action, often with a little social pressure.

Common phrases

  • 催交作业cuī jiāo zuò yè

    urge homework submission

  • 催回复cuī huí fù

    urge a reply

  • 催签名cuī qiān míng

    urge a signature

Similar words

催促cuī cù: Urge someone to hurry through words or messages, often by reminding them to act.
督促dū cù: Strongly press someone to act sooner from a position of responsibility or authority.
促使cù shǐ: Cause a person or situation to move toward an action or change.
催办cuī bàn: Press people involved to handle a task or procedure more quickly.

Definition in Chinese

用语言、表情或动作使对方加快做事，有时带有一定压力。yòng yǔ yán biǎo qíng huò dòng zuò shǐ duì fāng jiā kuài zuò shì yǒu shí dài yǒu yí dìng yā lì

Word origin

催 (cuī, "urge") is a phono-semantic character in which 人 (rén, "person") points to the target and 崔 (cuī, "high") supplies the sound, while the whole character means pressing someone to act sooner.

Usage tips

  • Repeated reminders can make this verb sound stronger than a neutral request, so a clear time phrase often states the need more politely.

Other meanings

  • hurryverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word