# 力不从心 (lìbùcóngxīn)

In Mandarin Chinese, 力不从心 (lìbùcóngxīn) means “willing in spirit but lacking strength”. It is part of the HSK 7–9 vocabulary list in the official HSK 3.0 standard.

- Meaning: willing in spirit but lacking strength
- Pinyin: lìbùcóngxīn (li4 bu4 cong2 xin1)
- Traditional: 力不從心
- HSK 3.0 · Level 7–9

## Examples

- 年纪大了，他觉得有些力不从心。
  Niánjì dà le, tā juéde yǒuxiē lìbùcóngxīn.
  As he gets older, he feels his strength falls short of his wishes.

## Characters

- [力](https://hanziro.com/word/li-strength/) (lì): strength; power
- [不](https://hanziro.com/word/bu-not/) (bù): not; no
- [从](https://hanziro.com/word/cong-from/) (cóng): from; since
- [心](https://hanziro.com/word/xin-heart/) (xīn): heart; mind

https://hanziro.com/word/li-bu-cong-xin-willing-in-spirit/

Dictionary data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Audio: audio-cmn (CC BY-SA).