make a living

(opium) Same-ON + (sun, day)
★★★☆☆
14 strokes

Onyomi

BO

Mnemonic

Your mother makes a living by selling opium every day!

Kunyomi

( ) く*らす This doesn't correspond to any English word. Maybe the closest phrase is, "To lead one's life."

Homeless people, retirees, and rich divorcees all 暮らす even though they don't 稼ぐ.

It means "to live in a place" as well as "to do all one's daily junk (eating, sleeping, hanging out)." 暮らす is usually used in sentences like, "over 30,000 people are living in the city." or "Live on $20 a day," or "She had an easy/hard life."
★★★☆☆

Jukugo

途方に暮れる(とほうにくれる)

be at a loss ★☆☆☆☆
(on the way) + (direction / method / person) + (make a living) = 途方に暮れる (be at a loss)

to be at a loss, to feel like WTF can I do??

Lookalikes

Meaning Hint Radical
recruit STRENGTH
make a living DAY
grave EARTH
model WOOD

You recruit members to give your organization more STRENGTH.

You have to make a living every DAY.

The grave is in the EARTH.

But you carve a model airplane out of WOOD.

Synonyms

make a living
稼ぐ    暮らす    住む