# 屈指可数

qū zhǐ kě shǔ

Be very few in number

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** Countable on bent fingers

**Traditional Chinese:** 屈指可數

**Register:** Standard · expressive

[Perspective](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/perspective)

## When to use it

Emphasize scarcity within a category.

Relative to the group being discussed.

## Understanding the expression

Using fingers to count gives a familiar image of a small total. The expression describes something so scarce that counting it seems easy, such as surviving examples or available specialists. It need not mean exactly ten or fewer; the image usually functions rhetorically. The relevant category should be clear. A few participants in one town do not establish that a practice is rare everywhere, and rarity does not by itself prove importance.

## Examples

能修这种钟的人屈指可数。

### Traditional Chinese

能修這種鐘的人屈指可數。

néng xiū zhè zhǒng zhōng de rén qū zhǐ kě shǔ 。

Very few people can repair this kind of clock.

现存手稿屈指可数。

### Traditional Chinese

現存手稿屈指可數。

xiàn cún shǒu gǎo qū zhǐ kě shǔ 。

Only a handful of manuscripts survive.

村里的年轻人屈指可数。

### Traditional Chinese

村裡的年輕人屈指可數。

cūn lǐ de nián qīng rén qū zhǐ kě shǔ 。

There are very few young people in the village.

这季晴天屈指可数。

### Traditional Chinese

這季晴天屈指可數。

zhè jì qíng tiān qū zhǐ kě shǔ 。

There have been very few sunny days this season.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 6, 2026.

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E5%B1%88%E6%8C%87%E5%8F%AF%E6%95%B8)

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=871&webMd=1&la=0)

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