📖 Meaning
To be utterly destitute, as if everything one owns has been washed away. It describes extreme poverty where a person has absolutely nothing left. The idiom emphasizes total emptiness rather than mere hardship.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from 'Xianzhe Congtan: Wu Maoqing' (先哲丛谈物茂卿), which recounts that when the scholar first settled on Zhi Street, he was utterly destitute and farming could barely provide him with clothing and food. The work is a Qing-era collection of anecdotes about former sages. The idiom vividly likens complete poverty to having everything washed clean away, leaving nothing behind. It later appeared in Wu Jingzi's novel 'The Scholars' (儒林外史) to describe a family still living in extreme destitution despite having many descendants.
💡 Example Usage
他创业失败后，家中赤贫如洗，连房租都交不起。
After his business failed, his family was left utterly destitute and could not even afford the rent.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 赤贫如洗
- Pinyin: chì pín rú xǐ
- Literal Translation: bare, poor, as if, washed clean
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4