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每况愈下 (měi kuàng yù xià) — to go from bad to worse; to deteriorate steadily

Definition

Idiom meaning a situation steadily worsens, each time worse than before. Stronger and more literary than the colloquial 越来越差.

idiom
to go from bad to worseto deteriorate steadily

Examples

  • 每况愈下，。
    Tā de jiàn kāng měi kuàng yù xià, yī shēng yě bāng bù liǎo tā.
    His health is going from bad to worse, and even the doctors can't help him.
  • 每况愈下，。
    Gōng sī de jīng yíng zhuàng kuàng měi kuàng yù xià, yǐ jīng lián xù kuī sǔn sān nián le.
    The company's operating situation is deteriorating steadily; it has been losing money for three consecutive years.
  • 每况愈下，。
    Liǎng guó guān xì měi kuàng yù xià, tán pàn yě xiàn rù le jiāng jú.
    The relationship between the two countries is going from bad to worse, and negotiations have reached a deadlock.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

每 shows 母, a woman, with a top part resembling 屮. That part may represent a hairpin marking her as grown up, or a sprout marking her as ready to marry and have children.

Open 每 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 況; 况 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐriver
Sound part声符shēngfú
兄
兄xiōng況kuàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 況 pairs 氵 (river) with 兄 as the sound part; the simplified 况 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 况 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 愈 →

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.

Open 下 →
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