Chinese Conversation · Level 58
90 words
Chinese word
拥堵
Pronunciation
Pinyinyōng dǔ
Meaning
- adjectivecrowded
Example
地铁早高峰很拥堵。dì tiě zǎo gāo fēng hěn yōng dǔ
The subway is very crowded during the morning rush.
More examples
节假日市场周围常常拥堵。jié jià rì shì chǎng zhōu wéi cháng cháng yōng dǔ
The area around the market is often crowded during holidays.
Core concept
Too many travelers or vehicles gather in one space, making the shared route hard to pass through.
Common phrases
地铁拥堵dì tiě yōng dǔ
congested subway
市中心拥堵shì zhōng xīn yōng dǔ
congested downtown area
入口处拥堵rù kǒu chù yōng dǔ
congested entrance area
Similar words
拥挤yōng jǐ: So full of people or things that there is little room to move freely.
拥塞yōng sè: Marked by a slowed or blocked flow of traffic or people along a road or route.
堵塞dǔ sè: Blocked by people or things so that passage or the normal flow is prevented.
Definition in Chinese
形容道路、车站、走廊等因大量车辆或行人聚集而出现堵塞、通行困难的状态。xíng róng dào lù chē zhàn zǒu láng děng yīn dà liàng chē liàng huò xíng rén jù jí ér chū xiàn dǔ sè tōng xíng kùn nán de zhuàng tài
Word origin
拥堵 (yōngdǔ, "crowded and blocked") is built from 拥 (yōng, "gather densely") + 堵 (dǔ, "block"), so its form connects accumulation with hindered passage.
Usage tips
- English speakers often use crowded for a full place, but 拥堵 (yōngdǔ, "congested") points more specifically to a blocked flow of traffic or people.
Other meanings
- be congestedverb
- congestionnoun
Opposites
- 通畅tōng chàngfree-flowingadjective