📖 Meaning
Feeling displeased and unhappy due to dissatisfaction with a situation. It describes a sullen, resentful mood when one's expectations or desires are not met. The character 鞅 here is interchangeable with 怏, meaning discontented.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Song dynasty scholar Hong Mai's collection 'Yijian Dingzhi' (夷坚丁志), in the tale of 'Wu Zhenren' (武真人). Wu Zhenren, whose secular name was Wu Yuanzhao, was a woman from Xiaoshan in Kuaiji. When she came of age, her family arranged to marry her to a wealthy man of the region. After the betrothal gifts were formally accepted, Yuanzhao felt deeply unhappy and resentful about the arrangement. The idiom later appeared in works such as the 'History of Jin' (金史), in the biography of Chizhan Hexi, who after being dismissed from office lived in Bianliang in a state of constant discontent.
💡 Example Usage
项目方案被否决后，他整日鞅鞅不乐，连饭都吃不下。
After his project proposal was rejected, he moped around all day in sullen discontent, unable even to eat.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鞅鞅不乐
- Pinyin: yāng yāng bù lè
- Literal Translation: discontented, discontented, not, happy
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4