哭笑不得
kū xiào bù dé
not knowing whether to laugh or cry
Character by character
哭kū
cry
cry
笑xiào
laugh
laugh
不bù
not
not
得dé
able
able
Example
孩子的回答让我哭笑不得。
The child's answer left me not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
Usually 让人 or 令人哭笑不得, for something absurd but exasperating.
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