萬不得已 wàn bù dé yǐ

DEFINITIONS

  1. only when absolutely essential (idiom); as a last resort

CHARACTERS

萬 wàn ten thousand; innumerable
不 bù
HSK 1
no, not; un-; negative prefix
得 dé
HSK 2
obtain, get, gain, acquire
已 yǐ
HSK 2
already; finished; stop