📖 Meaning
The character '胜' means to endure or bear, and '烦' means tedious or bothersome. The idiom describes being unable to put up with tedious, troublesome, or repetitive matters—to be overwhelmed and annoyed by vexation.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Song dynasty scholar Lu You's 'Lao Xue An Bi Ji' (Notes from the Old Study Studio), Volume 3. In the original passage, Lu You describes how excessive procedural tedium became so unbearable that people grew to resent it. The work is a celebrated collection of anecdotes and observations from the Southern Song period, and this entry captures the universal human frustration with needless complication.
💡 Example Usage
他每天要处理这些重复的投诉，早已不胜其烦。
He had to deal with these repetitive complaints every day and had long been overwhelmed by the tedium.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 不胜其烦
- Pinyin: bù shèng qí fán
- Literal Translation: not, bear, its, tedium
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4