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窘迫 (jiǒng pò) — poverty-stricken, financially hard-pressed; embarrassed, in an awkward predicament

Definition

Two distinct senses: 'financially hard-pressed' and 'embarrassed / in an awkward predicament.' For the embarrassment sense, it is a more formal written word than 尴尬 or 害羞, and often describes a situation (处境窘迫) rather than a person's shy feeling.

adjective
poverty-strickenfinancially hard-pressedembarrassedin an awkward predicament

Examples

  • 窘迫，。
    Nà jǐ nián tā shēng huó hěn jiǒng pò, lián chī fàn dōu chéng wèn tí.
    In those years, his life was very hard up — even eating was a problem.
  • ，窘迫。
    Bèi dāng zhòng jiē chuān hòu, tā gǎn dào shí fēn jiǒng pò.
    After being exposed publicly, he felt extremely embarrassed.
  • ，窘迫。
    Miàn lín zhè yàng de xuǎn zé, chǔ jìng què shí jiǒng pò.
    Faced with such a choice, the situation is indeed awkward.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

窘jiǒngembarrassed
迫pòpressed

窘, embarrassed or poor, and 迫, pressed or urgent, together mean hard-pressed.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 窘 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái迫pò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 迫 pairs the walking radical 辶 (written in full as 辵) with 白, which gives the sound.

Open 迫 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Emotions & FeelingsMoney & Currency

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