Word information
Simplified争先恐后
Traditional爭先恐後
Pinyinzhēngxiān-kǒnghòu
Part of speechl
HSK 3.07-9
HSK 2.06
Chinese word dictionary
争先恐后
zhēngxiān-kǒnghòu · striving to be first and fearing to be last (idiom); outdoing one another
Character breakdown
Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.
How to learn 争先恐后
Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.
When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.
Related vocabulary
Words with the same characters
Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.
后hòu
back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post-; empress; queen; (archaic) monarch; ruler; surname Hou
先生xiānshengteacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.); husband; (dialect) doctor; CL:位[wei4]
后面hòumiànthe back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back; later; afterwards
后来hòuláiafterwards; later; newly arrived
后年hòuniánthe year after next
后天hòutiānthe day after tomorrow; life after birth (the period in which one develops through experiences, contrasted with 先天[xian1 tian1]); acquired (not innate or congenital); a posteriori