一筹莫展

yìchóu-mòzhǎn

to be unable to find a solution; to be at wits' end

HSK 3.0 · Band 7 trad. 一籌莫展

Watch it being written

Every character draws itself, stroke by stroke. Then grab the brush: trace it yourself and hear the word when you finish.

Build with these blocks

Chinese words snap together like bricks. Every word below shares a character with this one, so you are already halfway to knowing it.

See it in sentences

难题让他一筹莫展。

The hard problem left him at his wits' end.

谁被这事弄得一筹莫展?

Who is at their wits' end over this?