在劫难逃

在劫難逃

zàijiénántáo

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 fànxià le zhème duō zuì, kěwèi zàijiénántáo.

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 zàijiénántáo.

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

Tips

history

在劫难逃 grew out of Buddhist 劫 (jié — 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 Xinhua's etymology entry. Today it is everyday hyperbole: 'there's no getting out of this one'.

Stroke Order

在 zài

劫 jié

难 nán

逃 táo