劳民伤财

勞民傷財

láomín-shāngcái

idiom

Meanings

1 to waste manpower and money
2 to exhaust the people and drain resources
3 a pointless drain on labor and funds

Characters

to tire; to labor

to harm; to wound

Examples

HSK 4

反复改方案只会劳民伤财。

Fǎnfù gǎi fāng'àn zhǐ huì láomín-shāngcái.

Revising the plan over and over will only waste labor and money.

HSK 7-9

这种形式主义的活动劳民伤财，没有实际意义。

Zhè zhǒng xíngshì zhǔyì de huódòng láomín-shāngcái, méiyǒu shíjì yìyì.

This kind of box-checking event wastes manpower and money without any real purpose.

Tips

history

Rooted in 《周易·节》: 「不伤财，不害民」, 'do not drain resources, do not harm the people,' a classical principle of restrained governance. The idiom inverts that warning into an accusation.

register

Strong negative criticism, common in editorials and complaints about bureaucracy, vanity projects, or over-engineered plans.

Stroke Order

劳 láo

民 mín

伤 shāng

财 cái