lou4 hei3勞氣劳气
Jyutpinglou4 hei3
Yalelòuh hei
Definition
Irritating, frustrating, or anger-inducing; easily angered or short-tempered.
- infuriating, frustrating, or making one angry
- irritable, short-tempered, or easily angered
colloquialemotion
How it's used
Describes a specific type of frustration that drains your energy, often arising from dealing with unreasonable people or repetitive, annoying situations. It implies a sense of indignation or feeling that your efforts to communicate or resolve something are being wasted. Unlike general anger, it carries a nuance of being physically and mentally exhausted by the source of the irritation.
Examples
Talking to people like this is really frustrating.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 嬲, which simply means to be angry. 勞氣 focuses on the process of becoming frustrated or agitated through an interaction, whereas 嬲 is the resulting emotional state.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
