adverb #82,484

Meanings

  1. 1 hurriedly; suddenly; at once
  2. 2 hasty; alarmed

Examples

Tā tīngdào xiāoxi, liǎnsè jù biàn.
He paled with alarm at the news.
Búyào jù xià jiélùn.
Do not rush to a conclusion.

Tips

usage
is literary, meaning 'suddenly, hastily'. Common in 遽然 ('abruptly') and 不遽 ('not in a hurry'). Its ancient noun sense, a relay post-horse for fast couriers, is the origin of the 'speed' idea.
memory
The walk radical plus a charging beast: think of a courier galloping a relay horse along the road at top speed, that is 'suddenly, in haste'.

Components

radical
chuò
to walk; movement
The walk radical is written last in stroke order. It brings the idea of travel and motion, fitting the original meaning, a fast relay horse speeding along the road.
phonetic
phonetic element (a struggling beast)
supplies the sound jù. Originally it pictured a fierce, struggling animal, which fits the feeling of sudden, violent haste running through .

Stroke Order