催

cuī
HSK 5
#2,060 most
frequent character
to urge, to press, to prompt
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

催 cuī puts 亻 person with 崔 cuī. The person part gives the first meaning, 'to hasten, press'. The meaning then grew to 'to expedite, hasten'. 崔 cuī supplies the sound.

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Example Sentences

我催他快一点。
wǒ cuī tā kuài yīdiǎn 。
I urged him to hurry up.
老师催学生交作业。
lǎoshī cuī xuéshēng jiāo zuòyè 。
The teacher urged the students to submit their homework.
我得催我的朋友，才能准时出发。
wǒ dé cuī wǒde péngyǒu ， cáinéng zhǔnshí chūfā 。
I have to prompt my friend in order to leave on time.

Words with similar meanings

促使cùshǐ
to promote; to cause
促使 (cùshǐ) is more formal and often implies causing something to happen due to an external influence or motivation.
加快jiākuài
to accelerate
加快 (jiākuài) focuses more on the speed aspect, suggesting increasing the pace rather than just urging someone.

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Public Lists with 催

HSK 5
All words for the HSK 5 test
Advanced HSK5 Terms
Vocabulary commonly seen in HSK5 practice, bridging mid-high level usage.
Basic Verbs
Core action verbs like 'go,' 'come,' 'eat,' 'see,' commonly encountered in HSK.