后顾之忧

• Pinyin: hòu gù zhī yōu
• Hanzi breakdown: 后 — rear; 顾 = 雇 (phonetic) + 页 (page/head radical) — to look back; 之 — possessive particle; 忧 = 心 (heart radical) + 攸 (phonetic) — worry, anxiety

Meaning

Worries about what one has left behind; concerns about one's rear. Anxieties about family, home, or unfinished matters that distract one from the task at hand.

A four-character idiom (chéngyǔ) meaning concerns or worries about matters one has left behind — typically family, home, or obligations — that prevent one from focusing entirely on the current task. Often used in the pattern 解除/消除后顾之忧 (to remove/eliminate rear worries), meaning to put someone's mind at rest so they can focus. Also used ironically to describe unintended vulnerabilities from the rear.

Examples

1. 公司为外派员工提供全面的家属医疗保障，帮助他们彻底消除后顾之忧，全身心投入海外工作。 The company provides comprehensive family medical coverage for employees posted overseas, helping them eliminate worries at home and focus fully on their work abroad.
2. 完善的养老制度能够有效解除中老年劳动者的后顾之忧，使他们在就业时不必为退休后的生活过度担忧。 A well-designed pension system can effectively ease the worries of middle-aged and older workers, so they don’t have to be overly anxious about life after retirement when looking for a job.
3. 他出发前把家里的一切安排妥当，无后顾之忧，因此才能在异乡专心创业。 Before he left, he took care of everything at home and had nothing to worry about, so he could focus on starting a business in a different place.

Usage Guide

Context: policy, welfare, planning, classical expression

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 政府出台的这一系列惠民政策旨在切实解除广大农村居民在医疗、教育和养老方面的后顾之忧。(This series of people-benefiting policies introduced by the government aims to genuinely remove the worries that rural residents harbour about healthcare, education, and old-age support.)
• 公司为员工提供完善的住房补贴和子女入学协助，让他们没有后顾之忧，能够全力以赴地完成驻外任务。(The company provides comprehensive housing subsidies and school-enrolment assistance for employees' children, freeing them from rear-flank worries and enabling them to give their full energy to their overseas assignments.)

Don't Say

• 后顾之忧 loosely for any kind of worry — the idiom specifically refers to concerns about what one has left behind (family, home, obligations), not worries about the current task or the future; use 顾虑 or 担忧 for general concerns

Origin & History

Classical idiom: 后顾 (to look back; to attend to the rear) + 之 (possessive particle) + 忧 (worry; concern) — worries that require one to look back over one's shoulder

Cultural Context

Era: Classical to Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal