Chinese word dictionary

吞吞吐吐

tūntūntǔtǔ · to hum and haw (idiom); to mumble as if hiding sth; to speak and break off, then start again; to hold sth back

Practice word

Word information

Simplified吞吞吐吐

Traditional吞吞吐吐

Pinyintūntūntǔtǔ

Part of speech形

HSK 3.07-9

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

吞tūn

to absorb, to annex; to engulf; to swallow

吞tūn

to absorb, to annex; to engulf; to swallow

吐tǔ

to vomit, to spew out, to cough up; to say

吐tǔ

to vomit, to spew out, to cough up; to say

How to learn 吞吞吐吐

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.

吐tǔ

to spit; to send out (silk from a silkworm, bolls from cotton flowers etc); to say; to pour out (one's grievances)

吞tūn

to swallow; to take

狼吞虎咽lángtūn-hǔyàn

to wolf down one's food (idiom); to devour ravenously; to gorge oneself

呕吐ǒutù

to vomit

吐槽tǔcáo

(coll.) to complain humorously; to gripe about (sth) in a teasing way; also pr. [tu4cao2]

吞咽tūn yàn

to swallow; to gulp