难以启齿 nán yǐ qǐ chǐ

to find it hard to speak about sth

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency 13585th word

Definitions

  1. 1. to find it hard to speak about sth
  2. 2. to be too embarrassed to mention sth (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
难 nán HSK 3
difficult; difficult (to...); difficulty
以 yǐ HSK 2
to use; by means of; according to
启 qǐ HSK 5
to start; to open; to initiate
齿 chǐ HSK 5
tooth