死去活来

死去活來

sǐqù-huólái

idiom #22,051

Meanings

1 half dead
2 within an inch of one's life
3 to suffer terribly
4 to hover between life and death
5 to the point of exhaustion

Characters

to go / to leave

to live / alive

to come / to return

Examples

HSK 4

她哭得死去活来，让大家都很担心。

Tā kū de sǐqù-huólái, ràng dàjiā dōu hěn dānxīn.

She cried her eyes out to the point of exhaustion, worrying everyone.

HSK 7-9

这场病把他折磨得死去活来。

Zhè chǎng bìng bǎ tā zhémó de sǐqù-huólái.

This illness tormented him within an inch of his life.

Tips

memory

死去 (die and leave) + 活来 (come back alive) - picture someone so affected they repeatedly die and revive. The alternating extremes capture intense suffering or emotion.

Stroke Order

死 sǐ

去 qù

活 huó

来 lái