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Chinese/Dictionary entry

进退为难

jìn tuì wéi nándictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
no room to advance or to retreat (idiom) / without any way out of a dilemma / trapped / in an impossible situation
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-632f517ac0a63248. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

進退為難 进退为难 [jin4 tui4 wei2 nan2] /no room to advance or to retreat (idiom); without any way out of a dilemma/trapped/in an impossible situation/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 進退為難

  • 进
    jìn

    to go forward / to advance / to go in / to enter / to put in / to submit / to take in / to admit / (math.) base of a number system / classifier for sections in a building or residential compound

  • 退
    tuì

    to retreat / to withdraw / to reject / to return (sth) / to decline

  • 为
    wéi

    as (in the capacity of) / to take sth as / to act as / to serve as / to behave as / to become / to be / to do / by (in the passive voice)

    wèi

    because of / for / to

  • 难
    nán

    difficult (to...) / problem / difficulty / difficult / not good

    nàn

    disaster / distress / to scold

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.