Meaning of 迟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- late
- delayed
- slow
- surname Chi
How to use 迟
迟 means late or slow, and it mostly appears inside compounds like 迟到 (chídào), 推迟 (tuīchí) and 迟早 (chízǎo). On its own it often shows up in set phrases such as 太迟了 (tài chí le), too late. Example: 对不起，我迟到了。(Duìbuqǐ, wǒ chídào le.) Sorry, I am late.
迟 (chí) has the walking radical 辶 at the bottom left, with 尺 (chǐ, a ruler) riding on it. Picture someone walking so slowly you could measure each step with a ruler, so they arrive late.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 迟 (chí, second tone) with 尺 (chǐ, third tone), since 尺 is part of its shape. Also, in everyday speech 晚 (wǎn) is more common than 迟 for late in the day, so say 很晚了 (hěn wǎn le) for it is late at night, not 很迟了.
迟 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
迟 chí · late · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 迟.
Questions about 迟
What does 迟 mean?
迟 (chí) means "late; delayed" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 迟?
迟 is made of 1 character: 迟 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 迟 an HSK word?
Yes. 迟 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 迟 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 迟 is written 遲.
What is the difference between 迟 and 晚?
晚 (wǎn) refers to a late time of day, like evening or night, and also means late in general. 迟 (chí) focuses on being behind schedule or too slow, as in 迟到 (chídào) to arrive late. You can say 晚到 too, but 迟到 is the standard word for being late to class or work.
How do you say sooner or later in Chinese?
Use 迟早 (chízǎo), literally late early. For example, 他迟早会知道。(Tā chízǎo huì zhīdào.) He will find out sooner or later.