玩物丧志
wán wù sàng zhì
to lose one’s drive by indulging in trivial pleasures
Character by character
玩wán
toy with
toy with
物wù
things
things
丧sàng
lose
lose
志zhì
aspiration
aspiration
Example
他迷上了养鸟，一天到晚陪着鸟，连工作都不想找了，家里人都说他玩物丧志。
He has fallen for keeping birds and spends all day with them, not even bothering to look for a job; his family say the hobby has robbed him of all ambition.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
From 《尚书·旅獒》: 玩人丧德，玩物丧志, the warning given to King Wu of Zhou when a western people sent him a huge hound as tribute. Today it is the stock charge of parents and teachers against games, comics and phones; defenders of games reply that 游戏不等于玩物丧志.
Learn this in Lesson 163 · HSK 7–9: 戒不掉的瘾 (The habits we cannot break)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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