📖 Meaning
This idiom describes being in an extremely difficult and awkward predicament, as if stumbling and falling while caught in distress. It intensifies the sense of hardship and helplessness, drawing on the imagery of both struggle and loss of footing. The metaphor conveys a situation where one is trapped with no easy way out.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom builds on the ancient Chinese legend of the 狈 (bèi), a creature resembling a wolf but with short front legs that cannot walk without leaning on a wolf's back. When the two are together they can move, but when separated both are helpless—giving rise to the word 狼狈 (lángbèi), meaning 'in a predicament.' By combining 狼狈 with 艰 (hardship) and 蹶 (to stumble or fall), the phrase deepens the sense of distress and difficulty. No single classical text is cited as its definitive source; it is a compound assembled from these well-established semantic elements.
💡 Example Usage
公司接连亏损，已是狼艰狈蹶的境地。
With consecutive losses, the company has fallen into an extremely dire and awkward predicament.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 狼艰狈蹶
- Pinyin: láng jiān bèi juě
- Literal Translation: wolf, hardship, legendary wolf-like beast, stumble
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4