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焦头烂额

jiāo tóu làn édictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. badly burned about the head (from trying to put out a fire) (idiom) / fig. hard-pressed / under pressure (from a heavy workload, creditors etc)
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-187cb2321a109d58. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

焦頭爛額 焦头烂额 [jiao1 tou2 lan4 e2] /lit. badly burned about the head (from trying to put out a fire) (idiom)/fig. hard-pressed; under pressure (from a heavy workload, creditors etc)/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 焦頭爛額

  • 焦
    jiāo

    burnt / scorched / charred / worried / anxious / coke / joule (abbr. for 焦耳[jiāo ěr])

    Jiāo

    surname Jiao

  • 头
    tóu

    head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:個|个[gè]

    tou

    suffix for nouns

  • 烂
    làn

    soft / mushy / well-cooked and soft / to rot / to decompose / rotten / worn out / chaotic / messy / utterly / thoroughly / crappy / bad

  • 额
    é

    forehead / horizontal tablet or inscribed board / specified number or amount

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.