踌躇不前 (chóu chú bù qián) — to hesitate to advance; to be stuck in indecisi…

Definition

An idiom meaning to stand still, unable to decide whether to move forward. Stronger and more literary than plain 犹豫.

idiom

to hesitate to advanceto be stuck in indecision

，踌躇不前。
Miàn duì zhè ge jī huì, tā què chóu chú bù qián.
Faced with this opportunity, he hesitated to move forward.
踌躇不前，。
Tā zhàn zài mén kǒu chóu chú bù qián, bù gǎn jìn qù.
He stood at the door, hesitating and not daring to go in.
，踌躇不前。
Zài kùn nan miàn qián, wǒ men bù néng chóu chú bù qián.
In the face of difficulty, we cannot hesitate to move forward.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

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

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.