Definition
不治之症 literally means 'an illness that cannot be cured' — a terminal disease. But it's also used figuratively in formal or journalistic Chinese to describe a deep-rooted, seemingly unsolvable problem (e.g. 贪污是不治之症 'corruption is an incurable disease'). The structure is a fixed four-character phrase; treat it as a noun.
n.
incurable diseaseterminal illness(figurative) deep-rooted problem that seems impossible to solve
Examples
- 不治之症，。Yīshēng shuō tā dé le bù zhì zhī zhèng, zuì duō huó bàn nián.The doctor said he has an incurable disease and has at most six months to live.
- 不治之症。Fǔbài zài xǔduō guójiā dōu bèi shì wéi bù zhì zhī zhèng.Corruption is regarded as an incurable disease in many countries.
- ，不治之症。Chúfēi zhǎodào xīn de zhìliáo fāngfǎ, fǒuzé zhè zhǒng áizhèng réng shì bù zhì zhī zhèng.Unless new treatments are found, this type of cancer will remain an incurable disease.
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