哭笑不得 in English ku1 xiao4 bu4 de2 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) not to know whether to laugh or cry (idiomatic expression)
  • both funny and extremely embarrassing
  • between laughter and tears

Simplified Characters

哭 笑 不 得

Traditional Characters

哭 笑 不 得

Pinyin

ku1 xiao4 bu4 de2

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

哭ku1to cry 笑xiao4old variant of 笑[xiao4] 不bu4(negative prefix) 得de2to obtain