忍饥挨饿

• Pinyin: rěn jī ái è
• Hanzi breakdown: 忍 = 刃 + 心 (blade over heart = to endure); 饥 = 饣+ 几 (food radical + scarcity); 挨 = 扌+ 矣 (hand + suffering); 饿 = 饣+ 我 (food radical + self)

Meaning

To endure severe hunger; to suffer from chronic deprivation of food.

Describes a state of prolonged food insecurity or chosen sacrifice. Used in historical narratives about famine, poverty, or wartime hardship. Implies involuntary suffering rather than deliberate dieting.

Examples

1. 战争年代，许多平民不得不忍饥挨饿，艰难度日。 In wartime, many civilians had to go hungry and scrape by.
2. 他忍饥挨饿多年，才攒够了回家的路费。 He went hungry for years before he could save enough for the trip home.
3. 这部纪录片真实记录了那个时代人们忍饥挨饿的生活状态。 This documentary faithfully records how people in that era lived with chronic hunger.

Usage Guide

Context: history, poverty, literature

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 革命先辈在艰苦岁月里忍饥挨饿，从未放弃信念。(Revolutionary forebears endured hunger and starvation during difficult times without ever abandoning their convictions.)
• 为了供孩子读书，她宁愿自己忍饥挨饿。(In order to support her children's education, she was willing to go hungry herself.)

Don't Say

• 他今天忍饥挨饿因为在减肥 — use 他在节食 or 他刻意少吃; 忍饥挨饿 implies severe involuntary hardship, not deliberate dieting

Origin & History

忍 (endure) + 饥 (hunger) + 挨 (suffer) + 饿 (starvation)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: Older generations

Social background: Working class