绝路 (jué lù) — dead end; impasse; situation with no way out

Definition

A metaphorical “dead end” for a plan, career, or relationship — not the physical 死胡同 (lit. dead-end street). Pairs with 陷入 to mean reaching a hopeless impasse.

noun

dead endimpassesituation with no way out

Examples

绝路。
Zhè tiáo lù shì yì tiáo jué lù.
This road is a dead end.
绝路。
Tā jué de zì jǐ zǒu dào le jué lù.
He feels he has reached a dead end.
绝路。
Tán pàn xiàn rù le jué lù.
The negotiations have reached an impasse.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

绝juécut off

路lùroad

绝 means cut off and 路 means road, so together they mean a road with no way out.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

刀幺絕

刀刀dāoknife
幺幺yāosilk

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →

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

足足zú

Sound part声符shēngfú

各

各gè路lù

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

路 combines 足, a foot, with 各, which supplies the sound.

Open 路 →

Appears in

Abstract Concepts