Dictionary › 束手无策

束手无策

shù shǒu wú cè

4-character word Traditional 束手無策

What 束手无策 means

1. lit. to have one's hands bound and be unable to do anything about it (idiom); fig. helpless in the face of a crisis

The characters in 束手无策

• 束shùto bind; bunch; bundle
• 手shǒuhand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work
• 无wúnot to have; no; none
• 策cèpolicy; plan; scheme

Example sentences

• 当我听到这个消息时, 我束手无策。
  Dāng wǒ tīngdào zhège xiāoxi shí, wǒ shùshǒuwúcè.
  I was at my wit's end when I heard the news.