抓耳挠腮 zhuā ěr náo sāi

very worried and fidgety

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to tweak one's ears and scratch one's cheeks (as an expression of anxiety, delight, frustration etc) (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
抓 zhuā HSK 5
to grab; to catch; to arrest
耳 ěr HSK 3
ear; handle (archaeology)
挠 náo HSK 6
to scratch; to yield; to thwart
腮 sāi
cheek; variant of 腮sāi