| 死要面子活受罪 |
sǐ yào miàn zi huó shòu zuì |
to go through hell for the sake of keeping up appearances (idiom) |
| 死 |
sǐ |
to die / impassable / uncrossable / inflexible / rigid / extremely / damned |
| 死要面子 |
sǐ yào miàn zi |
to regard face as all-important / to consider loss of face unthinkable |
| 要 |
yāo |
(bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 要 |
yào |
to want; to need; to ask for / will; shall; about to / need to; should / if (same as 要是) / (bound form) important |
| 要面子 |
yào miàn zi |
see 爱面子 |
| 面 |
miàn |
face / side / surface / aspect / top / classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc |
| 面 |
miàn |
variant of 面 |
| 面 |
miàn |
flour / noodles / (of food) soft (not crunchy) / (slang) (of a person) ineffectual / spineless |
| 面子 |
miàn zi |
outer surface; the outside of sth / social prestige; face |
| 面子 |
miàn zi |
(medicinal) powder |
| 子 |
zǐ |
son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位 / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary; subordinate; (prefix) sub- |
| 子 |
zi |
noun suffix, as in 椅子 "chair" |
| 活 |
huó |
to live / alive / living / work / workmanship |
| 活受罪 |
huó shòu zuì |
(coll.) to go through sheer hell |
| 受 |
shòu |
to receive / to accept / to suffer / subjected to / to bear / to stand / pleasant / (passive marker) / (LGBT) bottom |
| 受罪 |
shòu zuì |
to endure / to suffer / hardships / torments / a hard time / a nuisance |
| 罪 |
zuì |
guilt / crime / fault / blame / sin |
| 罪 |
zuì |
variant of 罪, crime |