一蹶不振
jat1 kyut3 bat1 zan3yī jué bù zhèn
English
- one stumble, unable to rise (idiom); a setback leading to total collapse
- ruined at a stroke
- unable to recover after a minor hitch
- Become devastated and slump after experiencing a setback.(Literally, it means once a fall, somebody could not pick back up.)
粵語 — Cantonese
- 字面解即係一跌倒就起唔返身。引伸做遇到一次挫折之後就唔振作、唔興旺、頹廢。
Examples
自從個神射手轉會之後,成隊波就一蹶不振,成年都無拎過冠軍。
Once the top scorer transferred to another football club, the whole team was devastated and they did not get any champion in the whole year.
Sources: cc-cedict, rime-cantonese, words.hk