催 meaning and stroke order
To urge; to press; to prompt
How to write 催, stroke by stroke
13 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 催
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to urge
- to press
- to prompt
- to rush sb
- to hasten sth
- to expedite
How 催 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Person.
亻 gives the meaning and 崔 hints at the sound.
Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.
How to remember 催
A person 亻 stands next to 崔 (cuī), which gives the sound. Picture a person standing beside you saying "cuī, cuī" to hurry you along.
催 means to push someone to do something faster, like reminding a friend to pay you back or a boss rushing a report. It also appears in words where something speeds up a process, such as 催化剂 (cuīhuàjì) catalyst. Example: 妈妈催我早点睡觉。(Māma cuī wǒ zǎodiǎn shuìjiào.) Mom urged me to go to bed early.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 催 with 摧 (cuī, to destroy), which has the same sound and the same phonetic 崔 but uses the hand radical 扌. Use 亻 when a person is urging someone and 扌 for breaking things, as in 摧毁 (cuīhuǐ) to destroy.
Common words with 催
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
催 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 催
How many strokes are in 催?
催 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 催 mean?
催 (cuī) means to urge; to press; to prompt. A common word with it is 催眠 (cuīmián), meaning "to lull to sleep; to hypnotize".
How do you pronounce 催?
催 is pronounced cuī, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 催?
The radical of 催 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 催 under this radical.
Is 催 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 催 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 催 and 催促?
They mean the same thing. 催 alone is more common in casual speech, as in 别催我 (bié cuī wǒ) don't rush me. 催促 (cuīcù) sounds a bit more formal and written.
How do I say someone is nagging me to get married in Chinese?
Chinese has a popular word for this, 催婚 (cuīhūn), meaning to pressure someone to marry. A similar word is 催生 (cuīshēng), pressure to have a baby. Example: 过年回家总被催婚。(Guònián huíjiā zǒng bèi cuīhūn.) Going home for New Year, I always get pressured to marry.