See 力不從心 in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "力不从心",
"raw_tags": [
"Simplified-Chinese"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "zh",
"2": "idiom"
},
"expansion": "力不從心",
"name": "head"
}
],
"lang": "Chinese",
"lang_code": "zh",
"literal_meaning": "strength does not follow the heart",
"pos": "phrase",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Cantonese chengyu",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Chinese chengyu",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Chinese entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Hokkien chengyu",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Mandarin chengyu",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"to lack the ability to do what one wants; one's strength does not match one's ambitions; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"
],
"id": "en-力不從心-zh-phrase-epYN1kfu",
"links": [
[
"lack",
"lack"
],
[
"ability",
"ability"
],
[
"strength",
"strength"
],
[
"ambition",
"ambition"
],
[
"the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak",
"the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"roman": "xīn yǒuyú ér lì bùzú",
"word": "心有餘而力不足／心有余而力不足"
},
{
"roman": "xīnyúlìchù",
"word": "心餘力絀／心余力绌"
},
{
"roman": "xīn yǒuyú ér lì bùzú",
"word": "心有餘而力不足"
},
{
"roman": "xīn yǒuyú ér lì bùzú",
"word": "心有余而力不足"
},
{
"roman": "xīnyúlìchù",
"word": "心餘力絀"
},
{
"roman": "xīnyúlìchù",
"word": "心余力绌"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Pinyin"
],
"zh-pron": "lìbùcóngxīn"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"bopomofo"
],
"zh-pron": "ㄌㄧˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄘㄨㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄣ"
},
{
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Jyutping"
],
"zh-pron": "lik⁶ bat¹ cung⁴ sam¹"
},
{
"zh-pron": "le̍k-put-chiông-sim"
},
{
"tags": [
"Hanyu-Pinyin",
"Mandarin",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "lìbùcóngxīn"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"bopomofo",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "ㄌㄧˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄘㄨㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄣ"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Tongyong-Pinyin",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "lìbùcóngsin"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Wade-Giles",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "li⁴-pu⁴-tsʻung²-hsin¹"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Yale",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "lì-bù-tsúng-syīn"
},
{
"tags": [
"Gwoyeu-Romatsyh",
"Mandarin",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "lihbutsorngshin"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Palladius",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "либуцунсинь"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Palladius",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "libucunsinʹ"
},
{
"ipa": "/li⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ t͡sʰʊŋ³⁵ ɕin⁵⁵/",
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Sinological-IPA",
"standard"
]
},
{
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Yale"
],
"zh-pron": "lihk bāt chùhng sām"
},
{
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Pinyin"
],
"zh-pron": "lik⁹ bat⁷ tsung⁴ sam¹"
},
{
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Guangdong-Romanization"
],
"zh-pron": "lig⁶ bed¹ cung⁴ sem¹"
},
{
"ipa": "/lɪk̚² pɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰʊŋ²¹ sɐm⁵⁵/",
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Sinological-IPA"
]
},
{
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"POJ"
],
"zh-pron": "le̍k-put-chiông-sim"
},
{
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"Tai-lo"
],
"zh-pron": "li̍k-put-tsiông-sim"
},
{
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"Phofsit-Daibuun"
],
"zh-pron": "legputciongsym"
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ sim⁴⁴/",
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"Taipei"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²⁴⁻²² sim⁴⁴/",
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"Xiamen"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²³⁻³³ sim⁴⁴/",
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Kaohsiung",
"Min-Nan"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/li⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ t͡sʰʊŋ³⁵ ɕin⁵⁵/"
},
{
"ipa": "/lɪk̚² pɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰʊŋ²¹ sɐm⁵⁵/"
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ sim⁴⁴/"
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²⁴⁻²² sim⁴⁴/"
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²³⁻³³ sim⁴⁴/"
}
],
"word": "力不從心"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "力不从心",
"raw_tags": [
"Simplified-Chinese"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "zh",
"2": "idiom"
},
"expansion": "力不從心",
"name": "head"
}
],
"lang": "Chinese",
"lang_code": "zh",
"literal_meaning": "strength does not follow the heart",
"pos": "phrase",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"Cantonese chengyu",
"Cantonese idioms",
"Cantonese lemmas",
"Chinese chengyu",
"Chinese entries with incorrect language header",
"Chinese idioms",
"Chinese lemmas",
"Chinese terms spelled with 不",
"Chinese terms spelled with 力",
"Chinese terms spelled with 從",
"Chinese terms spelled with 心",
"Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation",
"Hokkien chengyu",
"Hokkien idioms",
"Hokkien lemmas",
"Mandarin chengyu",
"Mandarin idioms",
"Mandarin lemmas",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"glosses": [
"to lack the ability to do what one wants; one's strength does not match one's ambitions; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"
],
"links": [
[
"lack",
"lack"
],
[
"ability",
"ability"
],
[
"strength",
"strength"
],
[
"ambition",
"ambition"
],
[
"the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak",
"the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"
]
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Pinyin"
],
"zh-pron": "lìbùcóngxīn"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"bopomofo"
],
"zh-pron": "ㄌㄧˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄘㄨㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄣ"
},
{
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Jyutping"
],
"zh-pron": "lik⁶ bat¹ cung⁴ sam¹"
},
{
"zh-pron": "le̍k-put-chiông-sim"
},
{
"tags": [
"Hanyu-Pinyin",
"Mandarin",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "lìbùcóngxīn"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"bopomofo",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "ㄌㄧˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄘㄨㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄣ"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Tongyong-Pinyin",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "lìbùcóngsin"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Wade-Giles",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "li⁴-pu⁴-tsʻung²-hsin¹"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Yale",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "lì-bù-tsúng-syīn"
},
{
"tags": [
"Gwoyeu-Romatsyh",
"Mandarin",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "lihbutsorngshin"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Palladius",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "либуцунсинь"
},
{
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Palladius",
"standard"
],
"zh-pron": "libucunsinʹ"
},
{
"ipa": "/li⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ t͡sʰʊŋ³⁵ ɕin⁵⁵/",
"tags": [
"Mandarin",
"Sinological-IPA",
"standard"
]
},
{
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Yale"
],
"zh-pron": "lihk bāt chùhng sām"
},
{
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Pinyin"
],
"zh-pron": "lik⁹ bat⁷ tsung⁴ sam¹"
},
{
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Guangdong-Romanization"
],
"zh-pron": "lig⁶ bed¹ cung⁴ sem¹"
},
{
"ipa": "/lɪk̚² pɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰʊŋ²¹ sɐm⁵⁵/",
"tags": [
"Cantonese",
"Sinological-IPA"
]
},
{
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"POJ"
],
"zh-pron": "le̍k-put-chiông-sim"
},
{
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"Tai-lo"
],
"zh-pron": "li̍k-put-tsiông-sim"
},
{
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"Phofsit-Daibuun"
],
"zh-pron": "legputciongsym"
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ sim⁴⁴/",
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"Taipei"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²⁴⁻²² sim⁴⁴/",
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Min-Nan",
"Xiamen"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²³⁻³³ sim⁴⁴/",
"tags": [
"Hokkien",
"Kaohsiung",
"Min-Nan"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/li⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ t͡sʰʊŋ³⁵ ɕin⁵⁵/"
},
{
"ipa": "/lɪk̚² pɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰʊŋ²¹ sɐm⁵⁵/"
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ sim⁴⁴/"
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²⁴⁻²² sim⁴⁴/"
},
{
"ipa": "/liɪk̚⁴⁻³² put̚³²⁻⁴ t͡siɔŋ²³⁻³³ sim⁴⁴/"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"roman": "xīn yǒuyú ér lì bùzú",
"word": "心有餘而力不足／心有余而力不足"
},
{
"roman": "xīnyúlìchù",
"word": "心餘力絀／心余力绌"
},
{
"roman": "xīn yǒuyú ér lì bùzú",
"word": "心有餘而力不足"
},
{
"roman": "xīn yǒuyú ér lì bùzú",
"word": "心有余而力不足"
},
{
"roman": "xīnyúlìchù",
"word": "心餘力絀"
},
{
"roman": "xīnyúlìchù",
"word": "心余力绌"
}
],
"word": "力不從心"
}
Download raw JSONL data for 力不從心 meaning in Chinese (4.0kB)
{
"called_from": "pronunciations/296/20230324",
"msg": "Zh-pron header not found in zh_pron_tags or tags: '(Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺'",
"path": [
"力不從心"
],
"section": "Chinese",
"subsection": "",
"title": "力不從心",
"trace": ""
}
{
"called_from": "pronunciations/296/20230324",
"msg": "Zh-pron header not found in zh_pron_tags or tags: 'Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ)'",
"path": [
"力不從心"
],
"section": "Chinese",
"subsection": "",
"title": "力不從心",
"trace": ""
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Chinese dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-08-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-07-20 using wiktextract (ed078bd and 3c020d2). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.