📖 Meaning
Describes someone so overwhelmed by anger or panic that they lose all composure and dignity. The idiom paints a picture of a person panting and disheveled, utterly undone by their own uncontrollable fury or fright. It is a variant of the more common 气急败坏 (qì jí bài huài), carrying the same sense of frenzied indignation.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in Chapter 15 of Mao Dun's (茅盾) 1933 novel 'Midnight' (《子夜》), a landmark work of modern Chinese literature set in 1930s Shanghai. In the scene, the character Gui Changlin (桂长林), a factory foreman, has been injured in a violent clash between workers and management. With blood on his face, he runs over in a state of flustered fury to report the situation, vividly embodying the idiom's meaning. The phrase is a regional or stylistic variant of 气急败坏, with 丧 (losing morale) replacing 坏 (ruined), intensifying the sense of utter dejection mixed with rage.
💡 Example Usage
他气急败丧地冲进办公室，质问是谁泄露了消息。
He stormed into the office in a flustered fury, demanding to know who had leaked the information.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 气急败丧
- Pinyin: qì jí bài sàng
- Literal Translation: breath, flustered, defeated, dejected
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4