不耐烦
bù nài fán · HSK 5
impatient
😤 不耐烦 = not + endure + bothered (can't bear the annoyance)
不 (not) + 耐 (endure, withstand) + 烦 (annoyed, vexed). Literally not-endure-annoyance — the feeling when you can no longer tolerate something bothersome. 耐 also appears in 耐心 (patience); 不耐烦 is its opposite.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.
耐 — 而 (beard) + 寸 (hand/rule)
Originally depicted shaving off a beard (而) by hand (寸) as a minor punishment in ancient China. The sense shifted from 'enduring this shame' to the broader meaning 'to endure, bear, withstand.' Today 耐 commonly means patient or resistant, as in 耐心 (patience).
烦 — fire 火 + page/head 页
烦 combines 火 (fire) with 页 (head), depicting a feverish or burning head. The original sense was a headache caused by fever, which extended metaphorically to mental distress, irritation, and being bothered. Today it commonly means annoyed, troublesome, or vexed.