敷衍了事

fūyǎn-liǎoshì

idiom #33,040

Meanings

1 to do things perfunctorily; to go through the motions
2 to muddle through a task just to be done with it

Characters

to apply (superficially)

to extend; to drag on

to finish; to end

matter; business

Examples

工作不能敷衍了事，要认真对待。

Gōngzuò bùnéng fūyǎnliǎoshì, yào rènzhēn duìdài.

You can't just go through the motions at work, you have to take it seriously.

这份报告写得敷衍了事，重写。

Zhè fèn bàogào xiě de fūyǎnliǎoshì, chóngxiě.

This report was slapped together carelessly, rewrite it.

他对客户的问题总是敷衍了事。

Tā duì kèhù de wèntí zǒngshì fūyǎnliǎoshì.

He always fobs off the customers' questions with the bare minimum.

Tips

history

From Li Baojia's late-Qing novel 《官场现形记》 (Officialdom Unmasked), chapter 1: the ceremony master, faced with unruly officials, 只好由他们敷衍了事, 'could only let them muddle through for form's sake.' The phrase captures bureaucratic going-through-the-motions.

mistakes

了 here is liǎo (to finish), not le. Pronouncing it le changes the word. Compare 了结 (to settle a matter), same 了.

Stroke Order

敷 fū

衍 yǎn

了 le

事 shì