百无聊赖 — “Overwhelmed by boredom and listlessness”
百无聊赖 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Overwhelmed by boredom and listlessness”. Having nothing to do and feeling a complete lack of interest or purpose; utterly dispirited. Literally, “A hundred without solace or reliance”.
百无聊赖 Pronunciation and Pinyin
百无聊赖 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 百无聊赖
Origin and Story of 百无聊赖
Towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the warlord Gongsun Zan occupied Jizhou. Yuan Shao, wanting to eliminate Gongsun Zan, deliberately spread rumors that Yizhou City was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Gongsun Zan then moved his capital to Yizhou City and extensively built fortifications. Yuan Shao's large army then besieged Yizhou.
Gongsun Zan secretly congratulated himself on occupying a favorable position, but as time dragged on, he became utterly bored and dispirited, and morale plummeted.
Eventually, Yuan Shao dug tunnels into the city and occupied it.
Idioms Related to 百无聊赖
Synonyms of 百无聊赖
Antonyms of 百无聊赖
More idioms starting with 百
- bǎi百wàn万mǎi买zhái宅，，qiān千wàn万mǎi买lín邻Good neighbors are priceless
- bǎi百wàn万xióng雄bīng兵a vast and mighty army
- bǎi百wàn万xióng雄shī师a vast and mighty army
- bǎi百zhàng丈gān竿tóu头pinnacle of achievement, strive for more
- bǎi百xià下bǎi百quán全perfectly accurate and unfailingly successful
- bǎi百xià下bǎi百zháo着unfailingly successful
- bǎi百bù不yī一cún存not one in a hundred remains
- bǎi百bù不yī一shuǎng爽always accurate and reliable
- bǎi百bù不yī一dài贷make no exceptions
- bǎi百bù不yī一yù遇extremely rare
- bǎi百bù不wèi为duō多，，yī一bù不wèi为shǎo少Excellent things are always valuable
- bǎi百bù不shī失yī一unerringly accurate
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Open the tool →Questions about 百无聊赖
What does 百无聊赖 mean?
百无聊赖 (bǎi wú liáo lài) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Overwhelmed by boredom and listlessness”.
How do you pronounce 百无聊赖?
百无聊赖 is pronounced bǎi wú liáo lài in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 百无聊赖 literally mean?
Literally, 百无聊赖 means “a hundred without solace or reliance”. It is used to mean “Overwhelmed by boredom and listlessness”.
Where does 百无聊赖 come from?
百无聊赖 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 百无聊赖?
聊赖：依赖。精神上无所寄托，感到什么都没意思。