世风日下 (shì fēng rì xià) — the world is going to the dogs; society's moral standards are declining

Definition

A literary chengyu meaning 'the world's moral standards are declining day by day' — used to lament social decay, almost always with a tone of complaint or nostalgia. Closer to 道德沦丧 but framed as a long-term trend.

idiom
the world is going to the dogssociety's moral standards are declining

Examples

  • 世风日下，。
    Hěn duō rén dōu gǎn tàn shì fēng rì xià, nián qīng rén yuè lái yuè bù zūn zhòng zhǎng bèi le.
    Many people lament that the world is going to the dogs—young people respect their elders less and less.
  • 世风日下，。
    Zǔ mǔ cháng shuō xiàn zài shì fēng rì xià, bù rú tā nián qīng shí rén xīn chún pǔ.
    Grandma often says society's morals are declining now, not as pure-hearted as when she was young.
  • ，世风日下。
    Kàn dào zhè xiē bù wén míng de xíng wéi, tā rěn bú zhù gǎn kǎi shì fēng rì xià.
    Seeing these uncivilized behaviors, he couldn't help but sigh that the world is going to the dogs.

Origin

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 世 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

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