生不逢时

生不逢時
shēngbù-féngshí
idiom #88,983

Meanings

  1. 1 born at the wrong time
  2. 2 born under an unlucky star
  3. 3 ahead of one's time

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā cáihuá-héngyì, kěxī shēngbù-féngshí, yíbèizi méi shòu zhòngyòng.
He was hugely talented, but unfortunately born at the wrong time and never got recognized in his whole life.
HSK 7-9
Zhè kuǎn chǎnpǐn shēngbù-féngshí, gāng shàngshì jiù yùshàng jīngjì wēijī.
This product was launched at the wrong moment - right when it hit the market, the financial crisis struck.

Tips

history
The phrase distills a line from the Shijing 《诗经·大雅·桑柔》: 我生不辰,逢天僤怒 ('I was born at no good hour, met with Heaven's wrath'), and was fixed in the modern four-character form by classical commentators.
usage
Sympathetic, slightly fatalistic. Used for people whose talent or virtue went unnoticed because of bad timing, and (by extension) for products, ideas, or movies that flopped due to unlucky timing rather than poor quality.

Stroke Order

生 shēng
不 bù
逢 féng
时 shí