HSK 6 · Emotions

废寝忘食 fèiqǐnwàngshí “so absorbed one forgets to eat and sleep” in Chinese

Traditional 廢寢忘食

What 废寝忘食 means

  1. so absorbed one forgets to eat and sleep
  2. (idiom) to skip one’s sleep and meals
  3. to be completely wrapped up in one’s work

How to say 废寝忘食

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale废fèi4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale寝qǐn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale忘wàng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale食shí2nd tone, rising

废寝忘食 in a sentence

  1. 他废寝忘食地准备考试。

    Tā fèiqǐnwàngshí de zhǔnbèi kǎoshì.

    He’s so busy preparing for the exam he’s forgetting to eat and sleep.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 她画起画来常常废寝忘食。

    Tā huà qǐ huà lái chángcháng fèiqǐnwàngshí.

    Once she starts painting, she often forgets to eat or sleep.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 废寝忘食 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 废 (fèi) with each of its parts in a different colour
废fèito abolish
  • 广shelter · guǎng
  • 发to issue · fāSound part
The character 寝 (qǐn) with each of its parts in a different colour
寝qǐnto lie down to sleep or rest
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 丬half of tree trunk · qiáng
  • 彐snout · jì
  • 冖cover · mì
  • 又again · yòu
The character 忘 (wàng) with each of its parts in a different colour
忘wàngto forget
  • 亡death · wángSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 亡 (wáng) hints at the sound. Compare it with wàng.

Memory aidSomething lost 亡 from the heart 心: to forget.

The character 食 (shi) with each of its parts in a different colour
食shíto eat
  • 人person · rén
  • 良good · liáng

How to write 废寝忘食

废 8 strokes · 寝 13 strokes · 忘 7 strokes · 食 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

废寝忘食 (fèiqǐnwàngshí) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 废寝忘食 (fèiqǐnwàngshí). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 废寝忘食

Words with 废

废话fèihuà · nonsense废墟fèixū · ruins作废zuòfèi · to become invalid废除fèichú · to abolish半途而废bàntú'érfèi · to give up halfway

Words with 忘

忘wàng · to forget忘记wàngjì · forget备忘录bèiwànglù · memorandum

Words with 食

粮食liángshi · grain零食língshí · between-meal nibbles食物shíwù · food素食sùshí · vegetarian food饮食yǐnshí · diet

More words: Emotions & Attitudes

敌视díshì · to be hostile to丢人diūrén · to lose face恩怨ēnyuàn · old grudges反感fǎngǎn · to dislike愤怒fènnù · anger服气fúqì · to be convinced尴尬gāngà · awkward干劲gànjìn · drive

FAQs

废寝忘食 (fèiqǐnwàngshí) means “so absorbed one forgets to eat and sleep” or “(idiom) to skip one’s sleep and meals”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it fèiqǐnwàngshí: fèi with a 4th tone, then qǐn with a 3rd tone, then wàng with a 4th tone, then shí with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 废寝忘食 is written 廢寢忘食. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type feiqinwangshi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 废寝忘食 from the suggestions. Typing feiqinwangshi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
废寝忘食 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.