争先恐后 zhēng xiān kǒng hòu

1. striving to be first
2. compete with each other

These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 争先恐后 will read it the same way this page does.

争先恐后 is written with 4 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

What does 争先恐后 mean in English?

争先恐后 is pronounced zhēng xiān kǒng hòu and means striving to be first, compete with each other.

How do you pronounce 争先恐后?

争先恐后 is zhēng xiān kǒng hòu in pinyin — written zhengxiankonghou without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 争先恐后?

争先恐后 is written with 4 characters: 争 (zhēng) Fight over (struggle - contend - argue), 先 (xiān) Earlier (before - first - prior - former - late), 恐 (kǒng) Afraid (frightened - fear), 后 (hòu) Back (after - later - offspring). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

How is 争先恐后 written in traditional Chinese?

爭先恐後. The simplified form 争先恐后 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 爭先恐後 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced zhēng xiān kǒng hòu.

Is 争先恐后 an HSK word?

Yes — 争先恐后 is on the official HSK 6 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 6 page.