居高不下 jūgāobúxià to remain high
(of prices, rates etc) to remain high
How to remember 居高不下: 居 to live + 高 high + 不 not + 下 down = to remain high.
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How it is used
- Fixed expression for a number that stays stubbornly high - 房价居高不下 (fángjià jūgāo-búxià) housing prices remain stubbornly high.
- Reserved for measurable things: prices, rates, unemployment, temperatures, oil. Carries a note of frustration that they won't come down.
- Contrast 高涨 (gāozhǎng, surging upward): 居高不下 is 'stays up,' not 'keeps rising.' It's a stative predicate at clause end (…居高不下), not an attributive.