孤苦伶仃

gūkǔlíngdīng

idiom #35,116

Meanings

1 lonely and helpless
2 all alone in the world
3 orphaned and destitute with no one to rely on

Characters

alone / orphaned

bitter / hardship

alone / isolated

alone (used in 伶仃)

Examples

战争结束后，许多孩子孤苦伶仃，无家可归。

Zhànzhēng jiéshù hòu, xǔduō háizi gūkǔlíngdīng, wú jiā kě guī.

After the war, many children were left all alone in the world with no home to return to.

老人晚年孤苦伶仃，让人心酸。

Lǎorén wǎnnián gūkǔlíngdīng, ràng rén xīnsuān.

The old man's lonely, helpless final years made people's hearts ache.

Tips

history

From Li Mi's 《陈情表》 (Chen Qing Biao, 'Memorial of Expressing Feelings'), Jin dynasty: 臣少多疾病，九岁不行。零丁孤苦，至于成立 — Li Mi describes his sickly, orphaned childhood when petitioning the emperor for leave to care for his grandmother. The phrase has carried that note of pitiful solitude ever since.

usage

Strong emotional weight. Use for someone who has truly lost all family or support — not for a person who simply feels lonely. 伶仃 (língdīng) on its own also means 'isolated and alone.'

Stroke Order

孤 gū

苦 kǔ

伶 líng

仃 dīng