Definition
可怜巴巴 is a vivid, colloquial four-character reduplicative expression describing someone who looks extremely pitiful, miserable, or pathetic — often in a way that evokes sympathy or pity. It's more intense and expressive than just 可怜, with the 巴巴 suffix adding a sense of 'all over' or 'obviously'. You can use it for people, animals, or even a situation that seems hopeless, but it carries a slightly informal, sometimes almost childlike tone.
f.e.
(set phrase, colloquial) extremely pitifulmiserable-lookingpathetic
Examples
- 可怜巴巴，。Nà zhī xiǎo gǒu kě de dūn zài lù biān, ràng rén kàn zhe xīnténg.That little dog crouched pitifully by the roadside, making people feel sorry for it.
- ，可怜巴巴。Tā méi qián mǎi fàn de shíhou, nà kě de yàngzi zhēn ràng rén bù rěnxīn.When he had no money for food, his utterly pitiful look really made people reluctant to ignore him.
- 可怜巴巴，。Tā zhuāng zuò kě de shénqíng, qíshí shì zài sāhuǎng.She put on an extremely pitiful expression, but in fact she was lying.
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