百无聊赖 (bǎi wú liáo lài) — extremely bored; listless; having nothing to do

Definition

Literary idiom for being 'bored stiff' — far more intense than the everyday 没事做 ('having nothing to do'), and written in tone rather than spoken.

idiom
extremely boredlistlesshaving nothing to do

Examples

  • ，百无聊赖。
    Zhōu mò yí gè rén zài jiā, jué de bǎi wú liáo lài.
    At home alone on the weekend, I felt extremely bored.
  • 百无聊赖，。
    Tā bǎi wú liáo lài dì fān zhe shū, yí yè yě méi kàn jìn qù.
    He listlessly flipped through the book without reading a single page.
  • 百无聊赖，。
    Nà duàn bǎi wú liáo lài de rì zi, tā tiān tiān shuì dào zhōng wǔ.
    During those boring days, he slept until noon every day.

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
一一yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái百bǎi
Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Open 百 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
卯
卯mǎo聊liáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

聊 shows 耳 (ear) beside 卯, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was tinnitus.

Open 聊 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賴; 赖 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
剌
剌là賴lài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 賴 uses 貝 (a cowry) for profit and 剌 for the sound; the simplified 赖 is a shorthand.

Open 赖 →

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