📖 Meaning
Describes a state of being overwhelmed by countless worries and tangled, lingering emotions. It conveys a deep, complex melancholy where many sorrows and anxious thoughts intertwine at once.
📜 Origin Story
No single classical source is recorded for this idiom. It follows the common Chinese rhetorical pattern of pairing 千 (thousand) with 万 (ten thousand) to express immensity. The idiom likely emerged in literary usage during the Ming or Qing dynasty to describe profound emotional distress, appearing in vernacular fiction and poetry of that era.
💡 Example Usage
她独坐窗前，千愁万绪涌上心头。
She sat alone by the window, and a thousand sorrows and myriad thoughts welled up in her heart.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 千愁万绪
- Pinyin: qiān chóu wàn xù
- Literal Translation: thousand sorrows, ten thousand thoughts
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4