Chinese word

吃力

Pronunciation

Pinyinchī lì

Meaning

  • adjectivehard

Example

搬这台冰箱对我来说有点吃力。bān zhè tái bīng xiāng duì wǒ lái shuō yóu diǎn chī lì

Moving this refrigerator is a little hard for me.

Illustration for 吃力 (hard)

More examples

考试最后几个题让我觉得很吃力。kǎo shì zuì hòu jǐ gè tí ràng wǒ jué de hěn chī lì

The last few questions on the test felt very hard to me.

Core concept

A demanding task draws heavily on a person's physical or mental reserves.

Common phrases

  • 很吃力hěn chī lì

    very hard

  • 有些吃力yǒu xiē chī lì

    somewhat hard

Similar words

费力fèi lì: Requires considerable physical force or sustained effort to complete.
费劲fèi jìn: Feels hard to carry out because it takes a lot of effort or trouble.

Definition in Chinese

在做某件事情时感觉费力或困难，完成时需要较多的体力或精力。zài zuò mǒu jiàn shì qíng shí gǎn jué fèi lì huò kùn nán wán chéng shí xū yào jiào duō de tǐ lì huò jīng lì

Word origin

吃力 (chīlì, "effortful") combines 吃 (chī, "consume") with 力 (lì, "strength"), presenting a task as something that uses up a person's strength.

Usage tips

  • In everyday speech, this word describes a task from the doer's viewpoint, so a task can feel strenuous even when it is not impossible.

Other meanings

  • strenuousadjective
  • tiringadjective

Opposites

Word lists with this word