📖 Meaning
Describes being alone and cut off, with no external assistance or support available. It conveys a vulnerable situation where a person or force cannot rely on help from others, leaving them isolated and helpless.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom traces back to the 'Book of the Later Han' (后汉书), in the Biography of Ban Chao (班超传). Ban Chao was a distinguished diplomat and general of the Eastern Han dynasty stationed in the Western Regions. When Emperor Ming died in 75 AD, the state of Yanqi seized the opportunity of the national mourning period to attack and kill Protector-General Chen Mu, leaving Ban Chao isolated and cut off from reinforcements. The original text uses the variant '孤立无援' (isolated without reinforcement), but the meaning is identical to '孤立无助.'
💡 Example Usage
深入敌后的小分队很快陷入孤立无助的处境。
The small unit that penetrated deep behind enemy lines soon found itself isolated and without support.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 孤立无助
- Pinyin: gū lì wú zhù
- Literal Translation: isolated, stand, without, help
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4