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fèi 废 qǐn 寝 wàng 忘 shí 食

废寝忘食 fèi qǐn wàng shí

to forget to eat and sleep; to be totally absorbed in work or study

Literally: abandon sleep forget food

Intermediate 📚 Study & effort
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Origin

From the Analects: Confucius described himself as one who in his eagerness forgets to eat and in his joy forgets his worries; later writers fixed the phrase as 废寝忘食.

How to use it

Adverbial or predicate; positive, sometimes admiring. Often 废寝忘食地工作/学习.

Example sentences

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  1. 为了完成这个项目，他废寝忘食地工作了两个星期。
    Wèile wánchéng zhège xiàngmù, tā fèi qǐn wàng shí de gōngzuò le liǎng gè xīngqī.
    To finish the project he worked for two weeks, forgetting to eat and sleep.
    for finish this project, he abandon sleep forget food (particle) work (particle) two (measure) week
  2. 她对这本小说着了迷，看得废寝忘食。
    Tā duì zhè běn xiǎoshuō zháo le mí, kàn de fèi qǐn wàng shí.
    She was so hooked on the novel that she read it, forgetting food and sleep.
    she toward this (measure) novel catch (particle) fascination, read (particle) abandon sleep forget food

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