苦く肉にくの策さく

く

に

く

の

さ

く

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

expression, noun

last resort; desperate measure

A plan or action taken out of desperation when no good options remain. Often implies a painful or self-sacrificing choice. Used in serious or dramatic contexts.

値ね下さげは苦く肉

にく

の

策さく

だっ

た

が

、

売う

り

上あ

げ

は

伸の

び

なかっ

た

。

The price cut was a desperate measure, but sales didn't increase.

彼かれが辞じ任にんを申もうし出でたのは、会かい社しゃを守まもるための苦く肉にくの策さくだった。

His offer to resign was a last resort to protect the company.

Kanji

苦suffering, trial, worry
肉meat
策scheme, plan, policy

Related words

最さい後ごの手しゅ段だん
最後の手段 is a neutral term for the final option when nothing else works, while 苦肉の策 stresses the pain or self-sacrifice behind the desperate choice.
窮きゅう余よの策さく
窮余の策 describes a makeshift plan hastily devised when cornered, whereas 苦肉の策 highlights the personal sacrifice or suffering involved in the plan.
苦くるし紛まぎれ
苦し紛れ describes an act done in a moment of desperation without much thought, while 苦肉の策 refers specifically to a deliberate, calculated last-resort strategy.

Built from

苦く肉にく+策さく

Etymology

Literally 'a plan born of bitter flesh', from the Chinese idiom 苦肉之計. The idea is that one must first hurt oneself (or one's own side) to make a stratagem believable, hence a desperate, self-sacrificing measure.