厭煩 / 厌烦
yànfán
In Chinese, the word for bored can be expressed as 厭煩 / 厌烦 (yànfán) or 無聊 / 无聊.
Meaning: suffering from boredom (adj)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 厭煩 / 厌烦 | yànfán |
| 無聊 / 无聊 | wúliáo |
Both words describe the state of being bored, but they target different types of boredom. 無聊 / 无聊 is used to describe the general feeling of being bored or a situation that is dull. In contrast, 厭煩 / 厌烦 describes being bored in the sense of being fed up, annoyed or tired of something repetitive.
Which one should you use?
無聊 / 无聊 can describe both a person's feeling and an object's quality, such as a boring movie. 厭煩 / 厌烦 specifically implies a higher level of annoyance, weariness or the feeling of being fed up with something.
How does it change in a sentence?
無聊 / 无聊 can function as an adjective to describe a person (e.g., 'He is bored') or a thing (e.g., 'The movie is boring').
How do you pronounce it?
yànfán
Did you know?
- The word 厭煩 / 厌烦 is closely linked to the concept of 'distaste', as the character 厭 originally referred to being sated or disgusted by food.
- The word 無聊 / 无聊 literally translates to 'no material' or 'no substance', implying that a situation lacks the substance required to hold one's interest.
- If you say a person is 無聊 / 无聊, you might actually be calling them 'aimless' or 'unproductive' rather than just saying they are currently feeling bored.
Example sentences for Chinese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bored” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
