家徒四壁

jiātúsìbì
  1. lit. with only four bare walls for a home (idiom)
  2. fig. very poor
  3. wretched

CEDICT

  1. (figurative) very poor; wretched
  2. very poor; wretched

Wiktionary

家中只剩四面牆壁。形容家境贫困，一无所有。宋．辛弃疾〈水调歌头．我亦卜居者〉词：「好在书携一束，莫问家徒四壁，往日置锥无。」《孽海花．第三回》：「那时正是家徒四壁，囊无一文。」也作「家徒壁立」。

重編國語辭典

形容家境极为贫困

維基詞典

Entry Composition

=1 家 jiā used in 家伙 jiāhuo and 家俱 jiājù
=1 家 jiā
  1. home
  2. family
  3. (polite) my (sister, uncle etc)
  4. classifier for families or businesses
  5. refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China
  6. noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian

classifier: 個
2 徒 tú
  1. (bound form) disciple; apprentice; believer; (derog.) wrongdoer (as in 骗徒 piàntú "swindler" or 叛徒 pàntú "traitor" etc)
  2. (bound form) on foot
  3. (bound form) bare; empty
  4. (bound form) to no avail; in vain
  5. (bound form) merely; just; only
  6. (bound form) prison sentence
3 四壁 sìbì
  1. (literary) four walls (of a room); from every direction
  2. four walls (of a room); from every direction

Related entries

寒酸 hánsuān
  1. wretched
  2. poverty-stricken
  3. unpresentable (for clothing, gifts etc)
猥琐 wěisuǒ
  1. wretched (esp. appearance)
  2. vulgar
佌 cǐ
  1. petty
  2. wretched
可怜兮兮 kěliánxīxī
  1. miserable
  2. wretched
惨 cǎn
  1. miserable
  2. wretched
  3. cruel
  4. inhuman
  5. disastrous
  6. tragic
  7. dim
  8. gloomy
他們會害慘你。

They'll kill you.

Source: Tatoeba

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