泛滥成灾

氾濫成災

fànlànchéngzāi

idiom #49,624

Meanings

1 to overflow and cause disaster
2 to spread unchecked to a harmful extent
3 to be rampant to the point of calamity

Characters

to overflow; widespread

excessive; flooding

disaster; calamity

Examples

暴雨过后，河水泛滥成灾。

Bàoyǔ guò hòu, héshuǐ fàn làn chéng zāi.

After the storm, the river overflowed and caused a disaster.

网络谣言泛滥成灾。

Wǎngluò yáoyán fàn làn chéng zāi.

Online rumors have spread to plague proportions.

劣质商品泛滥成灾，损害消费者权益。

Lièzhì shāngpǐn fàn làn chéng zāi, sǔnhài xiāofèizhě quányì.

Shoddy goods have spread unchecked, harming consumer rights.

Tips

history

Rooted in 《孟子·滕文公上》: '洪水横流，泛滥于天下' — 'the great flood rushed sideways and overflowed across all under heaven'. Mencius's picture of primeval flood became the idiom's template for things spiraling out of control.

usage

Literal sense: rivers/floods. Figurative sense (much more common today): anything undesirable spreading uncontrollably — rumors, fakes, spam, counterfeit goods, bad films, etc.

Stroke Order

泛 fàn

滥 làn

成 chéng

灾 zāi