爱莫能助
ài​mò​néng​zhù

willing but unable to help

  • created sense approved 爱莫能助/愛莫能助 · ài​mò​néng​zhù · willing but unable to help — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    爱莫能助 / 愛莫能助

    ài​mò​néng​zhù

    willing but unable to help

    (idiom) unable to help despite wanting to; to sympathize but be powerless to assist; to have one's hands tied

    爱 (literal) → 爱/愛 · ài · to love 莫 (literal) → 莫 · mò · not 能 (literal) → 能 · néng · can 助 (literal) → 助 · zhù · to help

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense