Kilo Lingo

(jǐn zhāng) - nervous, tense, tight in Mandarin

jǐnzhāng

Traditional: 緊張

Line drawing of 紧张
Coloured illustration of 紧张
HSK 3
#797 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

nervous, tense, tight

Word origin

紧张 means 'nervous, tense': 紧 (jǐn, 'tight', simplified from 緊, with 纟the silk radical) plus 张 (zhāng, 'to stretch, to draw a bow', simplified from 張, with 弓 the bow radical). The image is of a drawn, taut string.

Origin
compound
Root
紧 (jǐn, tight: 纟silk + ...) + 张 (zhāng, to stretch: 弓 bow + 长 phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 紧

Stroke order for 张

Examples

I am very nervous.

She is always nervous before exams.

He is very nervous before the exam.

I get very nervous before exams.

Do not be so nervous.

紧张 (jǐn zhāng) means nervous, tense, tight. It is used as an adjective in everyday Mandarin speech.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 16.