形单影只

形單影隻
xíngdān-yǐngzhī
idiom #26,817

Meanings

  1. 1 lonely and solitary
  2. 2 all alone with only one's shadow for company

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā zài yìxiāng xíngdānyǐngzhī, fēicháng xiǎng jiā.
Alone in a foreign land, he was very homesick.
HSK 7-9
Jiérì lǐ kàndào biérén jiātíng tuánjù, tā gǎndào xíngdānyǐngzhī.
Seeing other families reunite during the holiday, she felt utterly alone.

Tips

memory
Picture a single figure (形) and a single shadow (影), just one form and one shadow, nobody else around. That image captures the loneliness perfectly.

Stroke Order

形 xíng
单 dān
影 yǐng
只 zhǐ