📖 Meaning
Describes a state in which one's circumstances have become dire and one's power or strength is spent. It is used of a person, army, or cause that is on the verge of collapse and can no longer resist or continue. The idiom carries a tone of defeat and helplessness.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no recorded origin story and cannot be traced to a specific classical text or author. It follows the standard four-character pattern in which paired nouns (circumstances, strength) are each modified by words meaning exhaustion or depletion. Its meaning is transparent from its components: circumstances have run out and power is bent to the point of failure.
💡 Example Usage
敌军势穷力屈，粮草断绝，只得弃城投降。
The enemy troops, with their situation dire and their strength spent and their supplies cut off, had no choice but to abandon the city and surrender.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 势穷力屈
- Pinyin: shì qióng lì qū
- Literal Translation: situation exhausted, strength depleted
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4