HSK 6 · Emotions

狼狈 lángbèi “in an awkward situation” in Chinese

Traditional 狼狽

What 狼狈 means

  1. in an awkward situation
  2. embarrassed
  3. in a difficult situation
  4. to cut a sorry figure

How to say 狼狈

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale狼láng2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale狈bèi4th tone, falling

狼狈 in a sentence

  1. 下大雨没带伞，我被淋得很狼狈。

    Xià dàyǔ méi dài sǎn, wǒ bèi lín de hěn lángbèi.

    I didn’t have an umbrella in the heavy rain and got completely drenched.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 他在大家面前摔了一跤，样子十分狼狈。

    Tā zài dàjiā miànqián shuāi le yì jiāo, yàngzi shífēn lángbèi.

    He fell over in front of everyone and looked very embarrassed.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 狼狈 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 狼 (láng) with each of its parts in a different colour
狼lángwolf
  • 犭dog form of 犬 · quǎnMeaning part
  • 良good · liángSound part

犭 hints at the meaning (dog); 良 (liáng) hints at the sound. Compare it with láng.

The character 狈 (bèi) with each of its parts in a different colour
狈bèia legendary wolf
  • 犭dog form of 犬 · quǎnMeaning part
  • 贝sea shell · bèiSound part

犭 hints at the meaning (dog); 贝 (bèi) hints at the sound. Compare it with bèi.

How to write 狼狈

狼 10 strokes · 狈 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

狼狈 (lángbèi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 狼狈 (lángbèi). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 狼狈

Words with 狼

狼吞虎咽lángtūnhǔyàn · to wolf down (food)

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

空虚kōngxū · empty快活kuàihuo · happy哭泣kūqì · to weep苦涩kǔsè · bitter牢骚láosāo · complaint愣lèng · dazed冷落lěngluò · to snub乐趣lèqù · delight

FAQs

狼狈 (lángbèi) means “in an awkward situation” or “embarrassed”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it lángbèi: láng with a 2nd tone, then bèi with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 狼狈 is written 狼狽. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type langbei with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 狼狈 from the suggestions. Typing langbei into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
狼狈 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.