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穷当益坚

qióng dāng yì jiāndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
poor but ambitious (idiom) / hard-pressed but determined / the worse one's position, the harder one must fight back
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-6d5e03b04b9ac6f7. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

窮當益堅 穷当益坚 [qiong2 dang1 yi4 jian1] /poor but ambitious (idiom); hard-pressed but determined/the worse one's position, the harder one must fight back/

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: 窮當益堅

  • 穷
    qióng

    poor / destitute / to use up / to exhaust / thoroughly / extremely / (coll.) persistently and pointlessly

  • 当
    dāng

    (onom.) dong / ding dong (bell) / to be / to act as / manage / withstand / when / during / ought / should / match equally / equal / same / obstruct / just at (a time or place) / on the spot / right / just at

    dàng

    at or in the very same... / suitable / adequate / fitting / proper / to replace / to regard as / to think / to pawn / (coll.) to fail (a student)

  • 益
    yì

    benefit / profit / advantage / beneficial / to increase / to add / all the more

    Yì

    surname Yi

  • 坚
    jiān

    strong / solid / firm / unyielding / resolute

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.