老大不小 (lǎo dà bù xiǎo) — (set phrase) no longer young; getting on in yea…

Definition

An idiom meaning 'no longer young' — used to gently pressure someone to act their age or take on adult responsibilities.

idiom

(set phrase) no longer younggetting on in years (often with a sense that one should act more mature)

老大不小，？
Nǐ dōu lǎo dà bù xiǎo le, zěn me hái xiàng gè hái zi yí yàng?
You're no longer young — why are you still acting like a child?
老大不小，。
lǎo dà bù xiǎo De rén le, gāi kǎo lǜ chéng jiā le.
You're not getting any younger; you should think about settling down.
老大不小，。
Tā lǎo dà bù xiǎo de, hái zhěng tiān wán yóu xì.
He's no longer young, yet he plays games all day.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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.

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

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Appears in