泛滥成灾

氾濫成災

fànlàn-chéngzāi

idiom #49,624

Meanings

1 to overflow and cause disaster
2 to spread unchecked to a harmful extent
3 to be rampant to the point of calamity

Characters

to overflow; widespread

excessive; flooding

disaster; calamity

Examples

暴雨过后，河水泛滥成灾。

Bàoyǔ guòhòu, héshuǐ fànlànchéngzāi.

After the storm, the river overflowed and caused a disaster.

网络谣言泛滥成灾。

Wǎngluò yáoyán fànlànchéngzāi.

Online rumors have spread to plague proportions.

劣质商品泛滥成灾，损害消费者权益。

Lièzhì shāngpǐn fànlànchéngzāi, sǔnhài xiāofèizhě quányì.

Shoddy goods have spread unchecked, harming consumer rights.

Tips

history

Rooted in 《孟子·滕文公上》: '洪水横流，泛滥于天下' — 'the great flood rushed sideways and overflowed across all under heaven'. Mencius's picture of primeval flood became the idiom's template for things spiraling out of control.

usage

Literal sense: rivers/floods. Figurative sense (much more common today): anything undesirable spreading uncontrollably — rumors, fakes, spam, counterfeit goods, bad films, etc.

Stroke Order

泛 fàn

滥 làn

成 chéng

灾 zāi