Chinese word dictionary

蹭蹬

cèng dèng · (literary) to encounter setbacks; to have bad luck

Practice word

Word information

Simplified蹭蹬

Traditional蹭蹬

Pinyincèng dèng

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

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

蹭cèng

to shuffle; to procrastinate, to freeload, to dilly-dally

蹬dēng

to step on; to wear; to face bad luck

How to learn 蹭蹬

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.

蹭吃cèng chī

to freeload for food

磨蹭mó ceng

to rub lightly; to move slowly; to dawdle; to dillydally; to pester; to nag

蹭车cèng chē

(coll.) to ride in sb else's car to save money; to ride on a train or bus without buying a ticket (fare-dodging)

蹭课cèng kè

(coll.) to sit in on a class

蹭饭cèng fàn

(coll.) to mooch a meal

刮蹭guā cèng

to scrape one's car against sth; to sideswipe