力不从心
lì bù cóng xīn
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Traditional: 力不從心
To want to do something but lack the strength, ability or means for it. Used to admit, often politely, that something is beyond you because of age, health or workload.
Muốn làm nhưng sức lực hay khả năng không cho phép. Thường dùng để thừa nhận, nhiều khi là nói khéo, rằng việc gì đó quá sức mình.
Register: neutral
Examples
Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation) — awaiting a native-speaker check
Sources & notes
Hán-Việt bridge batch 061 (2026-11-13). Headword, Traditional form and pinyin checked against CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0) source ↗ · Hán-Việt reading: Unihan kVietnamese source ↗ ; en.wiktionary Vietnamese entries via kaikki.org extract, snapshot 2026-07-31 (CC BY-SA 4.0): etymology of “lực bất tòng tâm” = 力不從心 · Vietnamese cognate: Idiomer entry “lực bất tòng tâm” (luc-bat-tong-tam). Definition, literal gloss and example sentence are original; the example has not had a native-speaker check yet.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “力不从心” mean?
To want to do something but lack the strength, ability or means for it. Used to admit, often politely, that something is beyond you because of age, health or workload. Literally: strength does not follow the heart
Is “力不从心” formal or informal?
力不从心 is generally neutral.