委曲求全
wěi qū qiú quán
to swallow your pride for the sake of keeping the peace
Character by character
委wěi
bend
bend
曲qū
crooked
crooked
求qiú
seek
seek
全quán
whole
whole
Example
为了孩子，她在这段婚姻里委曲求全了很多年。
For the children’s sake she swallowed her pride in that marriage for many years.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
委曲 means bending, not 委屈 (wronged), though many people write it that way. Sympathetic or critical depending on the speaker: it can be wise restraint or spinelessness.
Learn this in Lesson 221 · HSK 9+: 老舍的《茶馆》 (Lao She’s Teahouse and the Beijing voice)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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