在劫难逃

在劫難逃

zàijié-nántáo

idiom #35,024

Meanings

1 destined disaster cannot be escaped
2 doomed by fate
3 an inevitable catastrophe

Characters

to be in; within

calamity (Buddhist kalpa)

Examples

他犯下了这么多罪，可谓在劫难逃。

Tā fàn xià le zhème duō zuì, kěwèi zàijié-nántáo.

Having committed so many crimes, he was bound to face the consequences.

面对这场金融危机，许多企业在劫难逃。

Miànduì zhè chǎng jīnróng wēijī, xǔduō qǐyè zàijié-nántáo.

Faced with this financial crisis, many enterprises had no escape.

Tips

history

在劫难逃 grew out of Buddhist 劫 (kalpa, a cosmic cycle of catastrophe), meaning a calamity decreed by fate. Mao quoted it in 《论持久战》 ('On Protracted War') applied to enemy forces — that political usage is preserved in everyday hyperbole today: 'there's no getting out of this one'.

Stroke Order

在 zài

劫 jié

难 nán

逃 táo