adverb / noun HSK 5
Traditional 終日
all day long · from morning to night · the whole day
Meaning
终日 means 'all day long' or 'the entire day,' expressing that something continues throughout the day without interruption. It's a formal or literary term often used to describe continuous actions or states that persist from morning until evening.
Usage
This word is more formal and literary than the everyday 整天 (zhěng tiān). It's commonly found in written Chinese, news reports, and formal speech. Native speakers use it to emphasize the continuous or exhausting nature of an all-day activity, often with negative or neutral connotations.
Examples
- 01他终日埋头工作，很少有时间陪伴家人。, .He buries himself in work all day long and rarely has time to accompany his family.
- 02老人终日坐在窗前，望着外面的风景。, .The elderly person sits by the window all day long, gazing at the scenery outside.
Characters
Common collocations
- 终日忙碌busy all day long
- 终日奔波to rush about all day
- 终日工作to work all day long
- 终日不见阳光not to see sunlight all day
Antonyms
Origin
Literally combines 终 (entire/whole) with 日 (day), creating the meaning 'the whole day.' This classical construction is typical of formal Chinese compound words.