Chinese word dictionary

一筹莫展

yìchóu-mòzhǎn · to be unable to find a solution; to be at wits' end

Practice word

Word information

Simplified一筹莫展

Traditional一籌莫展

Pinyinyìchóu-mòzhǎn

Part of speechGeneral

HSK 3.07-9

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

一yī

one; first

筹chóu

chip, tally, token; to plan; to raise money

莫mò

cannot; do not; is not; negative

展zhǎn

to open, to unfold; to extend, to stretch

How to learn 一筹莫展

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

第一dì yī

first; number one; primary

一yī

one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

一半yíbàn

half

一下yíxià

(after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly

一点儿yìdiǎnr

erhua variant of 一點|一点[yi1 dian3]

一些yìxiē

some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er