Chinese word

烦恼

Pronunciation

Pinyinfán nǎo

Meaning

  • verbworry

Example

不要为小事烦恼。bú yào wèi xiǎo shì fán nǎo

Don't worry about small things.

Illustration for 烦恼 (worry)

More examples

最近的噪音总让我很烦恼。zuì jìn de zào yīn zǒng ràng wǒ hěn fán nǎo

The recent noise always bothers me.

Core concept

A mental knot in which a problem keeps the mind uneasy and occupied.

Common phrases

  • 感到烦恼gǎn dào fán nǎo

    feel troubled

  • 为工作烦恼wèi gōng zuò fán nǎo

    worry about work

  • 让人烦恼ràng rén fán nǎo

    trouble people

Similar words

担心dān xīn: To worry that something bad may happen and keep thinking about it.
苦恼kú nǎo: To feel deeply troubled and distressed by a difficult matter.
烦心fán xīn: To feel bothered and uneasy about something unpleasant.
发愁fā chóu: To worry about a problem or the future without knowing what to do.

Definition in Chinese

因某事在心理上感到不安、困扰或烦闷，表示对问题感到忧虑或被打扰，既可作动词表示陷入烦恼，也可作名词指烦恼的事情或心情。yīn mǒu shì zài xīn lǐ shàng gǎn dào bù ān kùn rǎo huò fán mèn biǎo shì duì wèn tí gǎn dào yōu lǜ huò bèi dá rǎo jì kě zuò dòng cí biǎo shì xiàn rù fán nǎo yě kě zuò míng cí zhǐ fán nǎo de shì qíng huò xīn qíng

Word origin

烦 (fán, "vexed") + 恼 (nǎo, "distressed") combine two closely related ideas to convey a mind disturbed by a troubling matter.

Usage tips

  • Chinese commonly places the source of the trouble after 为 (wèi, "for"), a useful pattern for describing what is causing unease.

Other meanings

  • distressnoun
  • troubledadjective

Opposites

Word lists with this word