望洋兴叹
wàng yáng xīng tàn
to feel helpless before a task far beyond one’s means
Character by character
望wàng
gaze
gaze
洋yáng
ocean
ocean
兴xīng
raise
raise
叹tàn
sigh
sigh
Example
这套房子要八百万，我们这样的普通上班族只能望洋兴叹。
That flat costs eight million; ordinary office workers like us can only look on and sigh.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
From 《秋水》: the river god 河伯 thinks himself the greatest until he reaches the sea and sighs at it. 望洋 first meant “gazing up”, but today everyone reads 洋 as ocean. Used of prices, tasks or rivals far out of reach. 兴 is xīng here, not xìng.
Learn this in Lesson 231 · HSK 9+: 庄子 (Zhuangzi, the laughing philosopher)
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.
Open the lesson →