刻不容缓

刻不容緩
kèbù-rónghuǎn
idiom #35,450

Meanings

  1. 1 brooks no delay
  2. 2 demanding immediate action
  3. 3 extremely urgent

Examples

HSK 6
Qiǎngjiù shāngyuán de gōngzuò kèbùrónghuǎn.
Rescuing the injured brooks no delay.
HSK 6
Yìngduì qìhòu biànhuà kèbùrónghuǎn.
Addressing climate change cannot be delayed a moment.

Tips

history
From the Song-era 《齐东野语》 by : a passage arguing that delaying the emperor's enthronement was inappropriate - 「」 ('the matter does not allow delay'). The ('moment') was added later to sharpen the urgency.
usage
Acts like a standalone predicate after a noun phrase: 'X 刻不容缓' = 'X cannot be delayed.' Stronger than 紧急 - asserts action must happen right now.

Stroke Order

róng
huǎn