心急如焚 (xīn jí rú fén) — extremely anxious; burning with impatience or w… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'so anxious it feels like the heart is on fire' — describes a personal emotional state, not the urgency of a task (that's 刻不容缓) or restless eagerness to act (迫不及待).

phrase

extremely anxiousburning with impatience or worry

Examples

，心急如焚。
Kǎo shì jié guǒ hái méi chū lái, tā xīn jí rú fén.
The exam results haven't come out yet, and he's extremely anxious.
，心急如焚。
Kàn dào hái zi fā shāo, mā ma xīn jí rú fén.
Seeing the child with a fever, the mother was burning with worry.
，，心急如焚。
Huǒ chē kuài kāi le, tā hái méi dào, wǒ xīn jí rú fén.
The train is about to leave and he hasn't arrived yet — I'm extremely anxious.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

及

及jí急jí

Same sound today

急 pairs 心 (heart) with 及, which gives the sound.

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

女口如

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

女

女nǚ如rú

Same sound today

如 is built from 口 (mouth) for its meaning and 女 (woman) for its sound.

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

林火焚

林林líntrees
火火huǒfire

焚 combines 林 (trees) and 火 (fire) to show trees burning.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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