Chinese word dictionary

顿挫

dùn cuò · a transition (stop and change) in spoken sound, music or in brush strokes; a cadence; punctuated by a transition

Practice word

Word information

Simplified顿挫

Traditional頓挫

Pinyindùn cuò

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.

顿dùn

to pause; to bow; to arrange

挫cuò

to check, to obstruct, to push down

How to learn 顿挫

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.

顿dùn

to stop; to pause; to arrange; to lay out; to kowtow; to stamp (one's foot); at once; classifier for meals, beatings, scoldings etc: time, bout, spell, meal

挫折cuòzhé

setback; reverse; check; defeat; frustration; disappointment; to frustrate; to discourage; to set sb back; to blunt; to subdue

顿时dùnshí

immediately; suddenly

挫败cuòbài

to thwart; to foil (sb's plans); a setback; a failure; a defeat

受挫shòucuò

thwarted; obstructed; setback

停顿tíngdùn

to halt; to break off; pause (in speech)