消磨

xiāomó

verb #9,974

Meanings

HSK 3

他喜欢在咖啡店消磨时间。

Tā xǐhuan zài kāfēidiàn xiāomó shíjiān.

He likes to while away time in coffee shops.

HSK 4

不要消磨在无聊的事情上。

Bùyào xiāomó zài wúliáo de shìqíng shàng.

Don't waste time on boring things.

HSK 5

这份工作消磨了他的意志。

Zhè fèn gōngzuò xiāomó le tā de yìzhì.

This job wore down his willpower.

usage

Two nuances: 消磨时间 is neutral (killing time), but 消磨意志/热情 is negative (eroding willpower/passion).

memory

消 (diminish) + 磨 (grind) = grind something away slowly, like time or motivation.

消 xiāo

磨 mó