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緊要

简紧要 · 繁緊要

Mandarin · pinyin jǐn yào

critical
crucial
vital

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Characters in this entry

緊: Look up this written character
要: yào · necessary, essential; necessity
紧: jǐn · tense, tight, taut; firm, secure

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–4 · jin3 yao4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

緊要 · find source passages ↗ · 紧要 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gan2 jiu3

Cantonese word readings for 緊要. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

adj · Etymology 1

(urgently) important; vital; critical; serious; crucial
(Cantonese) to an extreme degree; serious

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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