哭 kū
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- 口 — mouth
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
哭笑不得
kūxiàobùdé
to be torn between laughter and tears
Characters in this word
笑 xiào
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- ⺮ — bamboo
- Made of
- ⺮ bamboo 夭 young, energetic
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
不 bù
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 一 — one
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
得 dé
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 彳 — to step with the left foot
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
Example phrases
- 孩子把盐当成糖放进了咖啡里，妈妈哭笑不得。 Háizi bǎ yán dāngchéng táng fàng jìn le kāfēi li, māma kūxiào bùdé. The child put salt in the coffee thinking it was sugar, and mother did not know whether to laugh or cry.
- 听到他那个奇怪的借口，我真是哭笑不得。 Tīngdào tā nàge qíguài de jièkǒu, wǒ zhēnshi kūxiào bùdé. Hearing his strange excuse, I truly did not know whether to laugh or cry.
- 小狗把新买的拖鞋咬坏了，还一脸无辜，让人哭笑不得。 Xiǎogǒu bǎ xīn mǎi de tuōxié yǎo huài le, hái yì liǎn wúgū, ràng rén kūxiào bùdé. The puppy chewed up the new slippers and still looked innocent, leaving us torn between laughing and crying.
Related words
- 哭 kū to cry
- 哭泣 kūqì to weep; to cry
- 开玩笑 kāiwánxiào to joke
- 笑 xiào to laugh, to smile
- 笑话 xiàohuà joke
- 笑话儿 xiàohuar joke; silly talk
- 微笑 wēixiào to smile; smile
- 嘲笑 cháoxiào to mock, to ridicule
- 笑容 xiàoróng smile
- 耻笑 chǐxiào to ridicule; to mock
- 搞笑 gǎoxiào to be funny; to make people laugh
- 哄堂大笑 hōngtángdàxiào to burst into laughter; the whole room roars with laughter