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负债累累 (fù zhài lěi lěi) — to be overwhelmed with debts; to be deeply in debt

Definition

A vivid four-character set phrase meaning 'crushingly deep in debt'. The reduplication 累累 emphasizes the sheer weight and accumulation of debts — stronger than plain 负债, which just states the fact of owing money.

verb
to be overwhelmed with debtsto be deeply in debt

Examples

  • ，负债累累。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī jīng yíng bú shàn, yǐ jīng fù zhài lěi lěi le.
    This company has mismanaged its business and is already deeply in debt.
  • 负债累累，。
    Tā yīn wèi chuàng yè shī bài ér fù zhài lěi lěi, bù dé bú mài fáng huán zhài.
    He fell heavily into debt because of a failed startup and had to sell his house to repay the loans.
  • 负债累累。
    Yí gè fù zhài lěi lěi de zhèng fǔ hěn nán tuī dòng jīng jì gǎi gé.
    A government that is deeply in debt finds it very hard to push through economic reforms.

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.

负债debt
负fùcarry债zhàidebt
动宾Verb + object
累累heaped
累lèiheaped累lèiheaped
重叠Reduplication

负债 are debts, 累累 are heaped, so debts pile up.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 負; 负 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 負 combines 人 (person) and 貝 (cowry), with 人 written as ⺈; the simplified 负 is a later abbreviation.

Open 负 →

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 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 累 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 累 →
Appears in
Finance & BankingIdioms & Set Phrases

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