Chinese Conversation · Level 52
90 words
Chinese word
缺席
Pronunciation
Pinyinquē xí
Meaning
- verbbe absent
Example
他今天缺席了。tā jīn tiān quē xí le
He was absent today.
More examples
他因病缺席了那次会议。tā yīn bìng quē xí le nà cì huì yì
He was absent from that meeting because of illness.
Core concept
An expected place in a group activity is empty because its participant is away.
Common phrases
因病缺席yīn bìng quē xí
be absent due to illness
无故缺席wú gù quē xí
be absent without reason
缺席会议quē xí huì yì
be absent from a meeting
Similar words
请假qǐng jià: Getting approval to take time off because of illness or a personal matter.
缺勤quē qín: Being away from work on a scheduled working day.
缺考quē kǎo: Not appearing to take an examination.
旷课kuàng kè: Being absent from a school class without permission.
Definition in Chinese
没有到场参加某个活动、会议或课程，表示不在场。méi yǒu dào chǎng cān jiā mǒu gè huó dòng huì yì huò kè chéng biǎo shì bú zài chǎng
Word origin
缺席 (quēxí, "be absent") is built from 缺 (quē, "be missing") and 席 (xí, "seat or place at a gathering"), so its literal picture is a gathering with a participant missing from a place.
Usage tips
- The word reports nonattendance without saying whether the absence is approved, excused, or intentional, so it does not by itself assign blame.