字斟句酌

zìzhēn-jùzhuó

idiom #51,873

Meanings

1 to weigh every word
2 to phrase with great care

Characters

character, word

weigh, consider

sentence, phrase

deliberate, consider

Examples

HSK 3

这份声明他字斟句酌，改了好几遍。

Zhè fèn shēngmíng tā zìzhēn-jùzhuó, gǎi le hǎojǐ biàn.

He weighed every word of the statement and rewrote it several times.

HSK 7-9

外交辞令必须字斟句酌。

Wàijiāo cílìng bìxū zìzhēn-jùzhuó.

Diplomatic language has to be phrased with great care.

Tips

memory

斟 and 酌 both mean 'to pour (wine) carefully', so together they carry the sense of deliberation. Literally: 'pour each character, measure each phrase.'

Stroke Order

字 zì

斟 zhēn

句 jù

酌 zhuó