CHENGYU
三心二意(sān xīn èr yì)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- neutral
- Source:
- 元·关汉卿《救风尘》
MEANING
- Literal
- three hearts, two minds
- Figurative meaning
- half-hearted; indecisive; distracted
ORIGIN STORY
From the Yuan play Jiu Fengchen by Guan Hanqing, describing a person whose mind is split several ways and cannot commit.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to have one foot in and one foot out”
EXAMPLES
学习不能三心二意。Xuéxí bù néng sān xīn èr yì.HSK5
You cannot study half-heartedly.
他做事三心二意，什么也做不好。Tā zuò shì sān xīn èr yì, shénme yě zuò bù hǎo.HSK5
He does everything half-heartedly and gets nothing done well.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: The direct opposite of 一心一意 (wholehearted); do not confuse the two.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-14
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01