只好
zhǐ hǎo
Pinyin

Definition

只好
 - 
zhǐ hǎo
  1. without any better option
  2. to have to
  3. to be forced to

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

只
zhǐ
  1. 1 only
  2. 2 merely
  3. 3 just
  4. 4 but
好
hǎo
  1. 1 good
  2. 2 well
  3. 3 proper
  4. 4 good to
  5. 5 easy to
  6. 6 very
  7. 7 so
  8. 8 (suffix indicating completion or readiness)
  9. 9 (of two people) close
  10. 10 on intimate terms
  11. 11 (after a personal pronoun) hello
只好
zhǐ hǎo
  1. 1 without any better option
  2. 2 to have to
  3. 3 to be forced to
只是
zhǐ shì
  1. 1 merely
  2. 2 simply
  3. 3 only
  4. 4 but
只要
zhǐ yào
  1. 1 if only
  2. 2 so long as

Idioms (20)

不问好歹
bù wèn hǎo dǎi
  1. 1 no matter what may happen (idiom)
不知好歹
bù zhī hǎo dǎi
  1. 1 unable to differentiate good from bad (idiom)
  2. 2 not to know what's good for one
  3. 3 unable to recognize others' good intentions
不识好歹
bù shí hǎo dǎi
  1. 1 unable to tell good from bad (idiom)
  2. 2 undiscriminating
世上无难事，只怕有心人
shì shàng wú nán shì , zhǐ pà yǒu xīn rén
  1. 1 there is nothing the determined person can't accomplish (idiom)
  2. 2 persistence will overcome
做好做歹
zuò hǎo zuò dǎi
  1. 1 to persuade using all possible arguments (idiom); to act good cop and bad cop in turn

Sample Sentences

今天时间不够，我们只好走马看花。
jīntiān shíjiān bùgòu ，wǒmen zhǐhǎo zǒumǎkànhuā 。
We don’t have enough time today. We can only rush through sightseeing.
Go to Lesson 
我上次带我爸妈去外国旅游也是，到处找不着热开水，只好回到酒店的时候多煲一点开水备用，太不人性化了。
wǒ shàngcì dài wǒ bà mā qù wàiguó lǚyóu yě shì ，dàochù zhǎo bù zháo rèkāishuǐ ，zhǐhǎo huídào jiǔdiàn de shíhou duō bāo yìdiǎn kāishuǐ bèiyòng ，tài bù rénxìnghuà le 。
The last time I took my parents on an overseas holiday, we couldn’t find hot water everywhere. So we had to boil more water for spare use when we went back to the hotel, it was too inhuman.
Go to Lesson 
小学时候我们班就有三类人：“仙人”就是那种看各种高端怪书的奇葩（比如卡尔维诺的《宇宙奇趣全集》）；“完人”这种人会跳舞会唱歌会主持节目会各种乐器，还奥数好英语好钢琴八级；还有一种人没啥当，只好当“井货”（横竖都是二）。
xiǎoxué shíhou wǒmen bān jiù yǒu sān lèi rén ：“xiānrén ”jiùshì nàzhǒng kàn gèzhǒng gāoduān guài shū de qípā （bǐrú kǎ ěr wéi nuò de 《yǔzhòu qíqù quánjí 》）；“wánrén ”zhèzhǒng rén huì tiàowǔ huì chànggē huì zhǔchí jiémù huì gèzhǒng yuèqì ，hái ÀoShù hǎo Yīngyǔ hǎo gāngqín bā jí ；háiyǒu yīzhǒng rén méi shá dāng ，zhǐhǎo dāng “jǐng huò ”（héngshu dōu shì èr ）。
There were three kinds of people in my elementary school: the Merlin - nerds who read all kinds of wired high-end books (like Calvino’s Trolltech Universe Collection); the Paragon - the kids who could sing, dance, host games, play instruments, were good at all subjects, and could play piano like a professional; what was left were those kids who couldn’t be either, so they could only be “lol"s (It is lol either way).
Go to Lesson 
父亲是一个胖子，走过去自然要费事些。我本来要去的，他不肯，只好让他去。我看见他戴着黑布小帽，穿着黑布大马褂，深青布棉袍，蹒跚地走到铁道边，慢慢探身下去，尚不大难。可是他穿过铁道，要爬上那边月台，就不容易了。他用两手攀着上面，两脚再向上缩；他肥胖的身子向左微倾，显出努力的样子。这时我看见他的背影，我的泪很快地流下来了。我赶紧拭干了泪，怕他看见，也怕别人看见。我再向外看时，他已抱了朱红的橘子望回走了。
fùqin shì yī gè pàngzi ，zǒu guòqù zìrán yào fèishì xiē 。wǒ běnlái yào qù de ，tā bù kěn ，zhǐhǎo ràng tā qù 。wǒ kànjiàn tā dài zhe hēibù xiǎomào ，chuān zhe hēibù dà mǎguà ，shēnqīng bù miánpáo ，pánshān de zǒu dào tiědào biān ，mànmàn tàn shēn xiàqu ，shàng bù dà nán 。kěshì tā chuānguò tiědào ，yào pá shàng nàbiān yuètái ，jiù bù róngyì le 。tā yòng liǎng shǒu pān zhe shàngmian ，liǎng jiǎo zài xiàng shàng suō ；tā féipàng de shēnzi xiàng zuǒ wēi qīng ，xiǎn chū nǔlì de yàngzi 。zhè shí wǒ kànjiàn tā de bèiyǐng ，wǒ de lèi hěnkuài de liú xiàlai le 。wǒ gǎnjǐn shìgān le lèi ，pà tā kànjiàn ，yě pà biérén kànjiàn 。wǒ zài xiàngwài kàn shí ，tā yǐ bào le zhūhóng de júzi wàng huí zǒu le 。
My father's a big guy, to get there would be quite a bit of effort for him. I wanted to go instead, but he just wouldn't let me. I just had to give into my insistent father. I looked over at my father, in his black cloth cap, black knee-length robe and dark green cotton-padded jacket, teetering his way toward the railway and lowering his way down there, which wasn't too difficult. Yet, the difficult part was climbing up to the platform after crossing the tracks. He tightly placed his hands on the top of the platform, shrinking back his legs, his heavy body tilted slightly to the left. The sight was of a many trying his very best. As I took this scene in, looking at his back, my tears rushed down my face. I rushed to wipe away my tears, afraid of being seen by him, or by any others. When I look out again, he was already on his way back, carrying those bright tangerines.
Go to Lesson 
我也没办法，最近工作忙，睡觉时间都已经牺牲了，只好靠咖啡来提提神儿。
wǒ yě méi bànfǎ ，zuìjìn gōngzuò máng ，shuìjiào shíjiān dōu yǐjīng xīshēng le ，zhǐhǎo kào kāfēi lái títíshén r 。
I’ve no choice, with heavy workload even my sleep time is sacrificed. I can only rely on coffee to stay alert.
Go to Lesson 
我能力不如别人，只好笨鸟先飞，才能早入林。
wǒ nénglì bùrú biéren ，zhǐhǎo bènniǎoxiānfēi ，cáinéng zǎo rù lín 。
I am inferior to others. I have to practice more so I can succeed.
Go to Lesson 
还说呢，还不是你看完戏要跟朋友见面开会，我只好订这个时间。
háishuō ne ，háibúshì nǐ kàn wán xì yào gēn péngyou jiànmiàn kāihuì ，wǒ zhǐhǎo dìng zhège shíjiān 。
You really have the cheek? It was you that said you had a meeting with a friend after the film, so that’s the only time I could book.
Go to Lesson 
好、好，我前天才刚到车站，手机就被偷了，后来又发现我德国的饭店没订成，最后只好住在朋友的德国朋友家里。
hǎo 、hǎo ，wǒ qiántiān cái gāng dào chēzhàn ，shǒujī jiù bèi tōu le ，hòulái yòu fāxiàn wǒ Déguó de fàndiàn méi dìng chéng ，zuìhòu zhǐhǎo zhùzài péngyou de Déguó péngyou jiālǐ 。
OK, OK, I just got to the station the day before yesterday, then my cell phone was stolen, later I found out that I hadn't booked the hotel in Germany properly, so in the end I had to stay at the home of a German friend of a friend.
Go to Lesson 
你还敢讲，刚刚那五首歌都是你点的，而且都太冷门我们不会唱，我们只好吃东西。
nǐ hái gǎn jiǎng ，gānggāng nà wǔ shǒu gē dōu shì nǐ diǎnr de ，érqiě dōu tài lěngmén wǒmen bùhuì chàng ，wǒmen zhǐhǎo chī dōngxi 。
I'm surprised you have the cheek to say that, you ordered all of the last five songs, and they are all so obscure so we can't sing them, all we can do is eat.
Go to Lesson 
正是因为如此，更让这旅行车有种生活感，平时生活里，谁三不五时有空开辆大车，漫山遍野地跑？为了骗你买，只好弄条狗来，搞得好像车子也是玩伴了。
zhèngshì yīnwèi rúcǐ ，gèng ràng zhè lǚxíng chē yǒu zhǒng shēnghuógǎn ，píngshí shēnghuó lǐ ，shéi sānbùwǔshí yǒukòng kāi liàng dà chē ，mànshānbiànyě de pǎo ？wèile piàn nǐ mǎi ，zhǐhǎo nòng tiáo gǒu lái ，gǎo de hǎoxiàng chēzi yě shì wánbàn le 。
This is the very reason they do it, to bring a sense of the everyday to the vehicle. In everyday life, who has the time to drive off in a big vehicle all the time on leisurely trips to the country? To fool you into buying, they have to put a dog in there, as if the car is a companion on the trip.
Go to Lesson