wu4 hau2糊口
Jyutpingwu4 hau2
Yalewùh háu
Definition
To eke out a living; to barely get by.
neutralworkmoney
How it's used
This term carries a strong sense of hardship and struggle, implying that one's income is barely enough to cover basic necessities like food. It is often used to describe low-wage or manual labor where the primary motivation for working is survival rather than career advancement or passion. You will frequently hear it in contexts discussing the economic pressures faced by the working class.
Examples
Their whole family relies on selling vegetables to scrape by.
Related words
Common phrases
struggling to make ends meet
barely scraping by
Common mistake
Do not use this word to describe a comfortable or high-paying job. It specifically emphasizes the struggle for survival, so applying it to someone with a stable or lucrative career sounds unnatural or overly dramatic.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
