来之不易

來之不易

láizhībùyì

idiom #26,157

Meanings

1 hard to come by
2 not easily obtained
3 hard-won

Characters

possessive/linking particle (literary)

easy; to change

Examples

这份工作来之不易，一定要珍惜。

Zhè fèn gōngzuò láizhī bù yì, yīdìng yào zhēnxī.

This job was hard-won; you must cherish it.

胜利来之不易，需要我们共同努力。

Shènglì láizhī bù yì, xūyào wǒmen gòngtóng nǔlì.

Victory is hard to come by; it requires our collective effort.

粮食来之不易，不可随意浪费。

Liángshí láizhī bù yì, bùkě suíyì làngfèi.

Food does not come easily; it must not be wasted carelessly.

Tips

memory

来之不易 literally means not easy to have come — emphasizing that the difficulty was in the obtaining. Compare with 得来不易 (another variant). Both convey the same sense of something being hard-won.

Stroke Order

来 lái

之 zhī

不 bù

易 yì