TongTong
Sign in

无力回天 (wú lì huí tiān) — (idiom) powerless to change the situation; unable to reverse an irreversible outcome

Definition

An idiom meaning 'powerless to reverse the outcome' — used when a situation has already gone past the point of saving. Has a literary tone; rarely used in everyday spoken Chinese.

idiom
powerless to change the situationunable to reverse an irreversible outcome

Examples

  • ，无力回天。
    Miàn duì zhè yàng de jú miàn, tā yǐ jīng wú lì huí tiān le.
    Faced with such a situation, he was already powerless to change it.
  • ，无力回天。
    Jí shǐ zài nǔ lì, yě wú lì huí tiān.
    Even if you try harder, you still can't reverse the outcome.
  • ，无力回天。
    Zhè ge jì huà yǐ jīng shī bài, wú lì huí tiān.
    This plan has already failed; there's no way to turn it around.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

Open 回 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesSuccess & Failure

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.