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自顾不暇
自顾不暇
自顾不暇
自顾不暇
自顾不暇
自顾不暇
自顾不暇
自顾不暇

自顾不暇 — “Unable to attend to one's own needs”

自顾不暇 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Too busy or overwhelmed with one's own problems to be able to help or care for others; unable to attend to others' needs due to one's own pressing concerns”. Literally, “unable to attend to one's own needs”.

Frequency

自顾不暇 Pronunciation and Pinyin

  • 自zì
  • 顾gù
  • 不bù
  • 暇xiá

自顾不暇 Character Breakdown

CharacterPinyinStrokesMeaning
自
zì6from, self, naturally
顾
gù10look back, consider, visit, hire
不
bù4not
暇
xiá13leisure time

Example Sentence with 自顾不暇

公司业务量暴增,每个员工都忙得自顾不暇,根本无力帮助新来的同事适应。
With the sudden surge in the company's workload, every employee was too busy looking after their own tasks, making them unable to help the new colleagues adapt.

Origin and Story of 自顾不暇

During the Spring and Autumn period, Confucius traveled around various states with his disciples. While resting in the state of Chen, his disciple Ran Qiu returned from the state of Lu and reported that the ancestral temple in Lu had caught fire.

Confucius predicted that the temples of Duke Huan and Duke Xi must have burned down.

Ran Qiu replied that the Master's foresight was divine, explaining that Ji Huanzi had just passed away, and the Ji household was in complete chaos, so preoccupied with their own affairs that they were unable to attend to anything else, let alone extinguishing the fire.

Idioms Related to 自顾不暇

Synonyms of 自顾不暇

  • míng明zhé哲bǎo保shēn身wisely avoid trouble to protect oneself
  • zì自shēn身nán难bǎo保unable to protect oneself

Antonyms of 自顾不暇

  • zhù助rén人wéi为lè乐find joy in helping others
  • kāng慷kǎi慨jiě解náng囊generously contribute money
  • jiù救sǐ死fú扶shāng伤save the dying and assist the injured

More idioms starting with 自

  • zì自shàng上ér而xià下From top to bottom
  • zì自xià下ér而shàng上from the bottom up
  • zì自bù不dài待yán言goes without saying
  • zì自bù不liàng量lì力overestimate one's own abilities
  • zì自yè业zì自dé得reap what one has sown
  • zì自chǎn产zì自xiāo销produce and sell one's own products
  • zì自jīn今yǐ以wǎng往From now on
  • zì自jīn今yǐ已hòu后From now on
  • zì自jīn今yǐ已wǎng往from now on
  • zì自jīn今ér而hòu后from now on
  • zì自yǐ以wéi为dé得jì计to fancy one's own clever scheme
  • zì自yǐ以wéi为shì是self-righteous and opinionated

Questions about 自顾不暇

What does 自顾不暇 mean?
自顾不暇 (zì gù bù xiá) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Too busy or overwhelmed with one's own problems to be able to help or care for others; unable to attend to others' needs due to one's own pressing concerns”.
How do you pronounce 自顾不暇?
自顾不暇 is pronounced zì gù bù xiá in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 自顾不暇 literally mean?
Literally, 自顾不暇 means “unable to attend to one's own needs”. It is used to mean “Too busy or overwhelmed with one's own problems to be able to help or care for others; unable to attend to others' needs due to one's own pressing concerns”.
Where does 自顾不暇 come from?
自顾不暇 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to the modern era. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 自顾不暇?
暇:空闲。光顾自己还来不及。指没有力量再照顾别人。
Copy the pinyin for 自顾不暇 →Choose tone marks or tone numbers and copy the complete four-character reading.Read Chinese vocabulary and idiom guides →Continue with words, phrases, and idioms explained through natural examples.

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