心猿意马 in English xin1 yuan2 yi4 ma3 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) heart like a frisky monkey, mind like a cantering horse (idiomatic expression); metaphorically capricious (depreciative, diminishing)
  • to have ants in one's pants
  • hyperactive
  • adventurous and uncontrollable

Simplified Characters

心 猿 意 马

Traditional Characters

心 猿 意 馬

Pinyin

xin1 yuan2 yi4 ma3

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

心xin1heart 猿yuan2variant of 猿[yuan2] 意yi4Italy 马ma3surname Ma