骨瘦如柴

Chinese

	bone	tight; thin; lean	as (if); such as	firewood
trad. (骨瘦如柴)	骨	瘦	如	柴
simp. ^#(骨瘦如柴)	骨	瘦	如	柴
variant forms	骨瘦如豺
Literally: “as thin as a stick”.

Etymology

瘦如豺 (“as thin as a dhole”) was first described in Song Dynasty dictionary Piya, where also mention the homophonous alternative form using 柴 (chái, “stick”), which is now more common.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): gǔshòurúchái

(Zhuyin): ㄍㄨˇ ㄕㄡˋ ㄖㄨˊ ㄔㄞˊ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: gǔshòurúchái
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄨˇ ㄕㄡˋ ㄖㄨˊ ㄔㄞˊ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guushowruchair
  - IPA ^(key): /ku²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʂoʊ̯⁵¹ ʐu³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰaɪ̯³⁵/

Idiom

骨瘦如柴

as thin as a stick; emaciated; unhealthily skinny

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