走下坡路 (zǒu xià pō lù) — to go downhill, to be on the decline, to go fro…

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'to go downhill' — used for things steadily getting worse (business, career, health, a project). Literal: walk down a slope.

verb

to go downhillto be on the declineto go from bad to worse

走下坡路。
Zhè jiā gōng sī zuì jìn jǐ nián yì zhí zài zǒu xià pō lù.
This company has been going downhill in recent years.
，。
Tā de shì yè zǒu le xià pō lù, zài yě huí bú dào cóng qián le.
His career has gone downhill and can never return to what it was.
，走下坡路。
Zì cóng huàn le lǐng dǎo, zhè ge xiàng mù jiù kāi shǐ zǒu xià pō lù le.
Since the leadership changed, this project has started going downhill.

Characters in this word

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

The original shape showed a running man, with a foot added later.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

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

土皮坡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔdirt

Sound part声符shēngfú

皮

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

坡 combines 土, shown as dirt, with 皮, a part used for sound.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

各

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.

Appears in