不得已 bù dé yǐ — act against one's will/have no alternative but to/have to/to have no choice/must

不得已
bù dé yǐ

Characters: 不 · 得 · 已

Definitions

  1. act against one's will/have no alternative but to/have to/to have no choice/must

More definitions

CC-CEDICT

  1. to act against one's will
  2. to have no alternative but to
  3. to have to
  4. to have no choice
  5. must

ExtDict

  1. 无可奈何
  2. 不能不如此：实在～，只好亲自去一趟｜他们这样做，是出于～。

Examples

  • 这不是我们的错……大家都是逼不得已才这么做。

    It wasn't our fault... We all had to do it.