上天無路，入地無門 shàng tiān wú lù ， rù dì wú mén

to be trapped in a hopeless situation

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to be trapped in a hopeless situation
  2. 2. fig. to be at the end of one's rope
  3. 3. lit. there is no road to the sky, nor door into the earth (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
上 shàng HSK 1
to go up; on top; above
天 tiān HSK 1
day; sky; heaven
無 wú
not; no; not to have
路 lù HSK 2
road; route; line (bus etc)
入 rù HSK 4
to enter; to go into; to join
地 dì HSK 3
ground; land; adverb marker -ly
無 wú
not; no; not to have
門 mén
door; gate; doorway