迟

遲

chí

adjective HSK 5 #1,848

Meanings

辶 (movement) + 尺 (ruler/measure) — movement measured and found slow

Nǐ zěnme lái zhème chí?

Why did you come so late?

Chí dào zǒng bǐ bú dào hǎo.

Better late than never.

Shì bù yí chí, wǒmen mǎshàng chūfā ba.

There's no time to lose — let's set off immediately.

Tā fǎnyìng yǒudiǎn chí.

His reaction is a bit slow.

usage

迟 is the literary/formal form of 'late'. In everyday speech, 晚 (wǎn) is far more common. 迟 appears in set phrases and compounds.

culture

事不宜迟 (shì bù yí chí) — 'the matter should not be delayed' — a common idiom meaning 'let's act now'.

usage

Common compounds: 迟到 (chídào, to be late), 迟早 (chízǎo, sooner or later), 迟疑 (chíyí, to hesitate), 迟钝 (chídùn, slow-witted).

迟 chí