Welcome to ChineseFrequencyDictionary.com. Enter a Chinese character or compound Chinese word to lookup. If a valid dictionary entry is found, frequency information will be shown below:

Chinese Character/Word:

Definition(s) for: 退而求其次

Hanzi Pinyin Definition(s)
退而求其次 tuì ér qiú qí cì - to settle for second best
- the next best thing

List Ranking:

Where rank 1 is most common, and higher numbers are less common.

HSK 2 Level (2012) HSK 3 Band (2022) SUBTLEX-CH BeijingUni Global BeijingUni Weibo
- - - 56,493 43,222

Individual Character Breakdown:

Simp Pinyin Eng
退 tuì- to retreat; to withdraw
- to reject; to return (sth)
- to decline
ér- and
- as well as
- and so
- but (not)
- yet (not)
- (indicates causal relation)
- (indicates change of state)
- (indicates contrast)
qiú- to seek
- to look for
- to request
- to demand
- to beseech
- his
- her
- its
- their
- that
- such
- it (refers to sth preceding it)
- next in sequence
- second
- the second (day, time etc)
- secondary
- vice-
- sub-
- infra-
- inferior quality
- substandard
- order
- sequence
- hypo- (chemistry)
- classifier for enumerated events: time

Other Words Containing 退而求其次

Sorted by the 'SUBTLEX-CH' rank because that seems like the most reliable. Words without a SUBTLEX-CH rank are ignored for being too rare.

Word HSK 2 Level (2012) HSK 3 Band (2022) SUBTLEX-CH BeijingUni Global BeijingUni Weibo