📖 Meaning
To be so grief-stricken that one feels on the verge of death. It describes sorrow and anguish pushed to the absolute limit, where the pain of mourning becomes nearly unbearable.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in Chapter 13 of Dream of the Red Chamber (《红楼梦》) by the Qing dynasty writer Cao Xueqin. In the passage, the servant Baozhu mourns before the spirit tablet of Qin Keqing, following the rites befitting an unmarried daughter, and is described as wailing in such agony that she seems ready to collapse. The image of mourning carried to the point of breaking gave rise to this expression for overwhelming grief.
💡 Example Usage
听到父亲去世的消息，她哀痛欲绝，茶饭不思。
Upon hearing the news of her father's death, she was grief-stricken beyond measure, unable to eat or drink.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 哀痛欲绝
- Pinyin: āi tòng yù jué
- Literal Translation: grief, pain, about to, sever (life)
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4