少壯不努力,老大徒傷悲

简 少壮不努力,老大徒伤悲 · 繁 少壯不努力,老大徒傷悲
Mandarin · pinyin shào zhuàng bù nǔ lì , lǎo dà tú shāng bēi

Meanings

  1. if you are lazy in your prime, you'll be sorry in your old age
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Characters in this entry

少
shǎo · few, less, inadequate
壯
Look up this written character
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
努
nǔ · to exert, strive, make an effort; to pout
力
lì · power, capability, influence; Kangxi radical 19
老
lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
大
dà · big, great, vast, large, high
徒
tú · disciple, follower; go on foot
傷
shāng · wound, injury; fall ill from
悲
bēi · sorrow, grief; sorry, sad
壮
zhuàng · big, large; robust; name of tribe
伤
shāng · wound, injury; fall ill from
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

siu3 zong3 bat1 nou5 lik6 ,lou5 daai6 tou4 soeng1 bei1

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

少壯不努力,老大徒傷悲 · shao4 zhuang4 bu4 nu3 li4 , lao3 da4 tu2 shang1 bei1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 34,906
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record少壯不努力,老大徒傷悲 少壮不努力,老大徒伤悲 [shao4 zhuang4 bu4 nu3 li4 , lao3 da4 tu2 shang1 bei1] /if you are lazy in your prime, you'll be sorry in your old age/