积重难返

積重難返

jīzhòng-nánfǎn

idiom

Meanings

1 deep-rooted habits are hard to change
2 entrenched problems resist reform
3 long-standing ills are difficult to undo

Characters

to return; to reverse

Examples

HSK 7-9

这种官僚作风积重难返。

Zhèzhǒng guānliáo zuòfēng jīzhòng-nánfǎn.

This kind of bureaucratic habit is deeply entrenched and hard to reform.

HSK 7-9

有些问题积重难返,必须大刀阔斧地改革。

Yǒuxiē wèntí jīzhòng-nánfǎn, bìxū dàdāo-kuòfǔ de gǎigé.

Some problems are so entrenched they demand sweeping reform.

HSK 7-9

吸烟多年积重难返,戒起来很不容易。

Xīyān duōnián jīzhòng-nánfǎn, jiè qǐlái hěn bù róngyì.

Years of smoking make the habit hard to break.

Tips

history

The structural seed is in 《国语·晋语》: 重，无乃难迁乎? - 'once heavy, is it not hard to shift?'. The four-character form was fixed in Shen Defu's 《万历野获编》 (Ming, 1619): 此又皆势处极重之难返者 - describing Ming-dynasty institutional decay.

usage

Critical and formal. Often applied to institutional problems, social ills, or personal bad habits. Not suitable for light complaints - it implies a problem decades in the making.

Stroke Order

积 jī

重 zhòng

难 nán

返 fǎn