活地狱

活地獄

huódìyù

idiom #77,957

Meanings

1 (fig.) a living hell; a miserable situation or society
2 hell on earth

Characters

Examples

那段日子简直是活地狱。

Nà duàn rìzi jiǎnzhí shì huódìyù.

Those days were nothing short of a living hell.

旧社会对穷人来说就是一座活地狱。

Jiù shèhuì duì qióngrén lái shuō jiùshì yī zuò huódìyù.

For poor people, the old society was a living hell.

Tips

usage

活地狱 pairs well with 简直是 (truly is) or 如同 (like). Used for both individual suffering (bad workplace, illness) and grim social conditions.

Stroke Order

活 huó

地 dì

狱 yù