烦闷

• Pinyin: fán mèn
• Hanzi breakdown: 烦 = 火 (fire) + 页 (page/head) — heat in the head, irritation; 闷 = 门 (door) + 心 (heart) — a heart shut behind a door, suppressed and stifled

Meaning

Vexed and depressed; feeling oppressed by frustration and low spirits; a state of irritated melancholy.

Combines irritation (烦) with a feeling of being hemmed in and low (闷). More internalised and heavy than plain 烦 (annoyed). Used to describe a sustained emotional state rather than a momentary reaction, often caused by stagnation, lack of progress, or suppressed feelings.

Examples

1. 她在这家公司工作了整整七年，却始终得不到晋升的机会，烦闷的情绪在心中积压已久，终于到了难以排解的地步。 She had worked at the company for a full seven years but still couldn’t get promoted; the pent-up frustration had built for so long that it finally became impossible to shake.
2. 连续的阴雨天气让他倍感烦闷，他试图通过大量阅读来分散注意力，却发现连文字都无法将他的思绪从那件事上移开。 The unbroken stretch of rainy days left him feeling depressed and restless. He tried to distract himself by reading a lot, but found that even words couldn’t pull his mind away from that matter.
3. 导师指出，当学生在研究过程中长期陷入烦闷状态时，往往是课题方向或研究方法需要做出根本性调整的重要信号。 The advisor pointed out that when students remain stuck in a long-term gloomy, vexed state during research, it’s often an important signal that the topic direction or research method needs a fundamental adjustment.

Usage Guide

Context: emotions, psychology, everyday, work

Tone: introspective

Do Say

• 她说长期烦闷并非源于具体事件，而是一种弥漫的低落。(She said her long-term gloom came not from a specific event but from a pervasive low mood.)
• 这位历经宦海沉浮的老官员在回忆录中写道，仕途最烦闷的时期并非遭受打压之时，而是被闲置无事可做、才能无从施展的漫长等待岁月。(This veteran official, who had experienced the vicissitudes of an official career, wrote in his memoirs that the most vexing and oppressive period of his career was not when he faced suppression, but rather the long years of being sidelined with nothing to do and no outlet for his abilities.)

Don't Say

• 我感到非常烦闷和高兴 — 烦闷 and 高兴 are contradictory; if describing mixed emotions use 复杂 or describe each feeling separately with 既…又… structure

Origin & History

烦 (vexed/annoyed) + 闷 (stifled/depressed) — a combination of irritation and suffocating low spirits

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal