起き死し回かい生せい

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Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

revival from the brink of death; recovery from a hopeless situation

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

A yojijukugo used for dramatic turnarounds: bringing someone back from near death, or saving a situation that seemed completely lost. Often used in business, sports, and medical contexts.

新しん製せい品ひんのヒットで会かい社しゃは起き死し回かい生せいの一いち打だを放はなった。
With the hit new product, the company delivered a decisive blow for revival from a hopeless situation.
医い師したちの懸けん命めいな処しょ置ちが患かん者じゃの起き死し回かい生せいにつながった。
The doctors' desperate measures led to the patient's revival from the brink of death.

See all 5 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

起き死し回かい生せいの〈物もの〉a game-changing X (that saves an otherwise hopeless situation)
彼かれは九きゅう回かいに起き死し回かい生せいのホームランを打うった。
He hit a dramatic, come-from-behind home run in the ninth inning.
起き死し回かい生せいを図はかるto attempt a dramatic turnaround from disaster
会かい社しゃは新しん製せい品ひんで起き死し回かい生せいを図はかった。
The company tried to stage a dramatic comeback with a new product.

Kanji

起rouse, wake up, get up
死death, die
回-times, round, game
生life, genuine, birth

Related words

復ふっ活かつN1
復活 is a general word for revival or coming back, while 起死回生 specifically describes a dramatic, last-minute rescue from a seemingly hopeless or fatal situation.
挽ばん回かい
挽回 means recovering lost ground or regaining a position, often in sports or business, but lacks the life-or-death drama that 起死回生 carries.
逆ぎゃく転てんN2
起死回生 is a dramatic, idiomatic phrase for pulling off a miraculous save from near-defeat, while 逆転 is the everyday word for any reversal of a losing position.

Built from

起き死し+回かい生せい

Etymology

A Sino-Japanese reading of the Classical Chinese idiom 起死回生, literally “raise the dead and restore them to life,” subsequently extended to recovery from a desperate situation.