焦頭爛額
简 焦头烂额 · 繁 焦頭爛額Meanings
- lit. badly burned about the head (from trying to put out a fire) (idiom)
- fig. hard-pressed; under pressure (from a heavy workload, creditors etc)
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Mandarin tones
1–2–4–2 · jiao1 tou2 lan4 e2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
焦頭爛額 · find source passages ↗ · 焦头烂额 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
ziu1 tau4 laan6 ngaak6
Cantonese word readings for 焦頭爛額. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (literally) to be scorched by the flames
- (figurative) in a sorry plight; hard-pressed; overwrought; in trouble; overwhelmed
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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