敷衍了事

fūyǎnliǎoshì

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 bù néng 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, chóng xiě.

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 (liǎojié, to settle a matter) — same 了.

Stroke Order

敷 fū

衍 yǎn

了 le

事 shì