缓
Tap the pinyin to hear it
slow; unhurried; sluggish; gradual; not tense; relaxed; to postpone; to defer; to stall; to stave off; to revive; to recuperate
- HSK 3.0
- Level 4
- Old HSK
- Level 5
- Strokes
- 12
- Radical
- 糸 +9
- Structure
- Left–right 左右
- Traditional
- 緩
- Common rank
- #1,365
- Unicode
- U+7F13
Sound it out + + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 缓 is formed
Phono-semantic compound (形声字)
纟 meaning “thread” + 爰 sound ()
Components 纟 爰
How to remember it
unhurried · Heisig RSH #2395
thread + migrating ducks
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 缓
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 缓发中子 | delayed neutron | |
| 缓兵之计 | delaying tactics; stalling; measures to stave off an attack; stratagem to win a respite | |
| 心跳过缓 | bradycardia | |
| 缓不济急 | lit. slow no aid to urgent (idiom); slow measures will not address a critical situation; t… | |
| 死刑缓期执行 | deferred death sentence; abbr. to 死緩|死缓[si3 huan3] | |
| 高速缓存 | (computing) cache | |
| 缓急相济 | to help one another in difficulty; mutual assistance in extremity | |
| 高速缓冲存储器 | (computing) cache | |
| 缓急轻重 | see 輕重緩急|轻重缓急[qing1 zhong4 huan3 ji2] | |
| 轻重缓急 | slight or important, urgent or non-urgent (idiom); to deal with important matters first; s… | |
| 缓冲器 | buffer (computing) | |
| 缓动 | sluggish | |
| 缓气 | to get one's breath back; to take a breather | |
| 平缓 | level; almost flat; not strongly sloping; (fig.) moderate; mild-mannered; gentle | |
| 紧张缓和 | detente | |
| 刻不容缓 | to brook no delay; to demand immediate action | |
| 喜则气缓 | joy depresses one's qi vital breath; an excess of joy may lead to sluggishness of vital en… | |
| 和缓 | mild; gentle; to ease up; to relax | |
| 缓和 | to ease (tension); to alleviate; to moderate; to allay; to make more mild | |
| 死缓 | deferred death sentence; commuted death sentence with forced labor and judicial review aft… |
Sound family
Characters sharing the sound component 爰 — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 爰 sound part | to lead on to; then, therefore, as a consequence | |
| 暖 | warm, genial | |
| 媛 | beauty; beautiful woman | |
| 锾 | to measure; money, coins | |
| 瑗 | a large jade ring | |
| 谖 | to forget; to cheat, to lie |