焦头烂额

jiāo tóu làn é

swamped; at one’s wits’ end

Character by character

焦jiāo
scorched

头tóu
head

烂làn
burnt

额é
forehead

年底工作太多，我忙得焦头烂额。

With all the year-end work, I’m completely swamped.

Tone: neutral.

Usually 忙得／搞得焦头烂额.

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