📖 Meaning
Originally a Buddhist term referring to the formless realm beyond conceptual thought. The idiom describes indulging in wild fantasies or letting one's imagination run completely free from reality. It conveys a state of impractical daydreaming detached from the real world.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Śūraṅgama Sūtra (《楞严经》), a key Mahayana Buddhist scripture that became influential in Chinese Chan Buddhism. The sutra describes a realm called 'neither perception nor non-perception' (非想非非想处), the highest of the formless heavens, where consciousness is so subtle it is beyond ordinary thought. Over time, the phrase was adapted into colloquial Chinese as '想入非非', shedding its meditative connotation to describe fanciful, unrealistic thinking.
💡 Example Usage
他整天想入非非，从不脚踏实地做事。
He spends all day lost in wild fantasies and never does anything down-to-earth.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 想入非非
- Pinyin: xiǎng rù fēi fēi
- Literal Translation: think, enter, non-non
- Category: Knowledge
- Characters: 4