族

• Pinyin: zú
• Hanzi breakdown: 族 as suffix: attaches to descriptive prefixes to create group nouns

Meaning

A suffix meaning 'tribe' or 'group' — used to form words describing social categories of people.

As a suffix, 族 creates neologisms describing modern social groups: 上班族 (office workers), 月光族 (those who spend their entire monthly salary), 低头族 (smartphone addicts who always look down). Productive in creating new terms.

Examples

1. 大城市里的上班族每天要花很长时间通勤，非常辛苦。 Office workers in big cities have to spend a long time commuting every day — it's very tiring.
2. 越来越多的年轻人成了月光族，存不下任何积蓄。 More and more young people have become 'moonlight clan' — unable to save any money.
3. 地铁里到处都是低头族，几乎没有人抬头看看周围的世界。 The subway is full of phone addicts; almost no one looks up at the world around them.

Usage Guide

Context: social commentary, internet slang, media

Tone: casual

Do Say

• 你是上班族还是自由职业者？(Are you an office worker or freelancer?)
• 他是典型的低头族。(He's a typical phone addict.)

Don't Say

• 他是一个好人族。(Not all descriptors work with 族 — it's for established group terms)

Origin & History

Extended use of 族 (clan/tribe) to denote modern social groups sharing common characteristics or lifestyles. A productive suffix in contemporary Chinese.

Cultural Context

Era: Contemporary

Generation: Young to middle-aged

Social background: Universal