骨瘦如柴

gǔshòurúchái
idiom #20,374

Meanings

  1. 1 as thin as a match
  2. 2 emaciated
  3. 3 all skin and bones

Examples

Dà bìng zhīhòu, tā biàn de gǔ shòu rú chái.
After a serious illness, he became utterly emaciated.
Nà zhī liúlàng gǒu gǔ shòu rú chái, lìng rén xīnténg.
That stray dog was all skin and bones — heartbreaking to see.

Tips

memory
Picture a skeleton ( = bone) that is thin ( = thin) like ( = like) firewood ( = firewood/kindling). The image of bones as dry sticks of wood makes the emaciation viscerally vivid and memorable.

Stroke Order

shòu
chái