心急如焚

• Pinyin: xīn jí rú fén
• Hanzi breakdown: 心 = heart; 急 = 心 + 刍 (heart under urgency); 如 = 女 + 口 (as/like); 焚 = 林 + 火 (forest on fire — to incinerate)

Meaning

To be burning with anxiety; to feel extremely urgent anxiety, as if one's heart is on fire.

A vivid four-character idiom (成语). Used to describe an extreme state of anxiety or impatience when one urgently wants something to happen or resolve. The simile compares the anxious heart to something burning (焚 = to burn/incinerate).

Examples

1. 孩子失踪了好几个小时，父母心急如焚，四处寻找，不停地向路人询问。 The child had been missing for hours; the parents were frantic, searching everywhere and constantly asking passersby.
2. 项目截止日期临近，而进展却严重滞后，项目经理心急如焚，连夜召集团队开会。 With the project deadline approaching and progress far behind, the project manager was frantic and called an emergency overnight meeting with the team.
3. 等待手术结果的那几个小时，家属们心急如焚，在走廊里来回踱步。 During the hours spent waiting for the surgery results, the family members were frantic, pacing back and forth in the hallway.

Usage Guide

Context: literature, journalism, everyday, crisis

Tone: negative

Do Say

• 眼看洪水即将漫过堤坝，救援队员心急如焚，争分夺秒地加固防线。(Watching the floodwater about to breach the embankment, the rescue team members were burning with anxiety, racing against time to reinforce the defensive line.)
• 她独自坐在急诊室外，心急如焚地等待着丈夫的手术结果，双手不停地颤抖。(She sat alone outside the emergency room, burning with anxiety as she waited for news of her husband's surgery, her hands trembling incessantly.)

Don't Say

• 我心急如焚地吃饭 — 心急如焚 describes extreme anxiety in urgent or distressing situations, not mere impatience with routine activities; use 迫不及待 for eagerness

Origin & History

心急 (anxious/impatient heart) + 如 (like/as) + 焚 (to burn) — an ancient simile: the heart is as anxious as if it were burning

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal