kū xiào bù dé

HSK 7–9

哭笑不得 (kū xiào bù dé) is a Chinese word meaning “lit. not to know whether to laugh or cry (idiom); both funny and extremely embarrassing; between laughter and tears”.

Meanings

  1. 1lit. not to know whether to laugh or cry (idiom)
  2. 2both funny and extremely embarrassing
  3. 3between laughter and tears

Characters in 哭笑不得

哭kū · to cry; to weep笑xiào · to laugh; to smile不bù · no; not so得dé · to obtain

Related words

不no; not so得to obtain得used in 得瑟[de4 se5]得structural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to following phrase indicating effect, degree, possibility etc得to have to觉得to think that ...; to feel that ...不过only不要don't!; must not对不起I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon不错correct记得to remember得到to get; to obtain; to receive

Study Chinese with flashcards →