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痛不欲生 (tòng bú yù shēng) — overwhelmed with grief; devastated (used for extreme emotional pain)

Definition

A literary chengyu: 'so pained that one no longer wishes to live' — used to describe extreme emotional suffering such as grief or despair, not physical pain.

idiom
overwhelmed with griefdevastated (used for extreme emotional pain)

Examples

  • ，痛不欲生。
    Tīng dào zhè ge huài xiāo xi, tā tòng bú yù shēng.
    When he heard the bad news, he was devastated.
  • ，痛不欲生，。
    Shī qù le zuì hǎo de péng you, tā tòng bú yù shēng, měi tiān yǐ lèi xǐ miàn.
    After losing her best friend, she was overwhelmed with grief, washing her face with tears every day.
  • 痛不欲生，。
    Nà zhǒng tòng bú yù shēng de gǎn jué, zhǐ yǒu jīng lì guò de rén cái néng tǐ huì.
    That feeling of devastation can only be understood by those who have experienced it.

Origin

Characters in this word

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
疒疒nèillness
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng痛tòng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 疒 part means illness, and 甬 gives the sound; together they form 痛, meaning pain or hurt.

Open 痛 →

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.

Open 不 →

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
欠欠qiàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
谷
谷gǔ欲yù
Same sound today

欲 is made of 谷, which supplies the sound, and 欠, which relates to the meaning.

Open 欲 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →
Appears in
Emotions & FeelingsIdioms & Set Phrases

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