费尽心机

費盡心機

fèijìnxīnjī

idiom #22,660

Meanings

1 to rack one's brains
2 to exhaust every scheme
3 to scheme exhaustively
4 to go to great lengths plotting

Characters

to expend / to cost / wasteful

to exhaust / to use up

scheme / opportunity / mechanism

Examples

他费尽心机想要得到那份合同。

Tā fèijìn xīnjī xiǎngyào dédào nà fèn hétong.

He racked his brains and schemed endlessly to get that contract.

她费尽心机也无法打开那扇门。

Tā fèijìn xīnjī yě wúfǎ dǎkāi nà shàn mén.

Despite exhausting every scheme, she couldn't open that door.

费尽心机却一无所获，真是白费工夫。

Fèijìn xīnjī què yī wú suǒ huò, zhēn shì báifèi gōngfu.

After racking his brains and getting nothing, it was truly a waste of effort.

Tips

usage

费尽心机 often carries a slightly negative connotation — implying cunning or calculating effort rather than honest hard work. Compare 绞尽脑汁 (to rack one's brains) which is more neutral. Use 费尽心机 when scheming or manipulation is implied.

memory

费 (to expend) + 尽 (to exhaust) + 心机 (mental schemes) = to exhaust all your mental machinations.

Stroke Order

费 fèi

尽 jǐn

心 xīn

机 jī