坐立不安 (zuò lì bù ān) — restless and anxious; fidgety; on edge | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A chengyu describing anxious restlessness — literally 'cannot sit or stand in peace.' It pictures the body itself unable to settle because of inner worry, stronger than just feeling nervous.

idiom

restless and anxiousfidgetyon edge

Examples

，坐立不安。
Kǎo shì hái méi kāi shǐ, tā jiù yǐ jīng zuò lì bù ān le.
The exam hadn't started yet, and he was already restless with anxiety.
，坐立不安。
Děng le liǎng gè xiǎo shí hái méi xiāo xi, tā jí dé zuò lì bù ān.
After waiting two hours with no news, she was so worried she couldn't sit still.
，坐立不安。
Tīng dào nà ge huài xiāo xi hòu, tā zhěng wǎn zuò lì bù ān.
After hearing that bad news, he was fidgety and anxious all night.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

坐立sitting and standing

坐zuòsit立lìstand

联合Coordinate

不安uneasy

不bùnot安ānat ease

偏正Modifier + head

A person is 不安 whether 坐 or 立; the two postures frame the restlessness.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

留留liúto stay
土土tǔground

The form 坐 combines 留, 'to stay', and 土, 'ground'.

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

立 pictures a person standing on the ground.

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

宀女安

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

女

女nǚ安ān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Appears in

Emotions & Feelings Idioms & Set Phrases

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