颠沛流离 (diān pèi liú lí) — to wander about in desperate plight, drifting from place to place; vagrant and destitute

Definition

A literary chengyu for 'to be uprooted and destitute' — wandering from place to place in hardship, often from war or disaster. Used in writing, not casual speech.

idiom
to wander about in desperate plight, drifting from place to placevagrant and destitute

Examples

  • 颠沛流离，。
    Zhàn zhēng ràng wú shù jiā tíng diān pèi liú lí, shī qù jiā yuán.
    War caused countless families to wander in desperate plight, losing their homes.
  • 颠沛流离，。
    Tā nián qīng shí jīng lì le yí duàn diān pèi liú lí de shēng huó, hòu lái cái ān dìng xià lái.
    He experienced a period of vagrant life when young, and only later settled down.
  • 颠沛流离，。
    Xǔ duō nàn mín zhì jīn réng guò zhe diān pèi liú lí de rì zi, jí xū guó jì shè huì yuán zhù.
    Many refugees still live a life of wandering and hardship, urgently needing help from the international community.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

颠沛hardship
颠diāntopple沛pèihardship
联合Side by side
流离drifting apart
流liúdrift离líleave
联合Side by side

颠沛, falling into hardship, and 流离, drifting apart, together describe desperate wandering.

Characters in this word

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 顛; 颠 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
真
真zhēn顛diān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 顛 combines 頁, a head, with 真 as a sound clue; the simplified 颠 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 颠 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
巿
巿fú沛pèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

沛 has 氵, a short form of 水 meaning water, and 巿, which gives the sound.

Open 沛 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

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 離; 离 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
离
离lí離lí
Same sound today

The traditional form 離 pairs 隹, a bird, with the sound part 离; the simplified 离 is a shorthand. This form first wrote a black-naped oriole, and the sound was borrowed for 'leave'.

Open 离 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.