How to say it in Chinese

Pivotal in Chinese

pivotal · HSK 7–9

举足轻重 jǔ zú qīng zhòng

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  1. 举 jǔ to lift
  2. 足 zú foot
  3. 轻 qīng light
  4. 重 zhòng heavy

这家公司在行业里举足轻重。 This company plays a pivotal role in the industry.

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Other ways to say pivotal

More words with 举 or 足 or 轻 or 重

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How do you say pivotal in Chinese?

Pivotal in Chinese is 举足轻重 (jǔ zú qīng zhòng). You can also say 关键 (guān jiàn).

Which word should I use?

Start with the first one: it is the easiest on the HSK list. The others say it too, often in a more formal way or for a narrower sense; each one’s page has real sentences that show how it is used.

Where do these words come from?

Our own dictionary’s meanings for the official HSK word list. A word is shown for an English word when that is one of its first meanings; the easiest word whose first meaning it is comes first.

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Meanings from our own dictionary. Chinese often has more than one way to say a word.