汉英词典
Chinese-English Dictionary
MEANING OF 望洋兴叹
wàng yáng xīng tàn
望洋兴叹 (望洋興嘆)
lit. to gaze at the ocean and lament one's inadequacy (idiom) / fig. to feel powerless and incompetent (to perform a task)
望洋 Look up / Looking up at the sea god and sighing / Originally refers to lamenting his insignificance in front of great things / Nowadays, I often like to feel helpless when doing things because of incompetence or lack of conditions
无法 束手无策 力不从心 无计可施 一筹莫展 没辙
妄自尊大
《庄子·秋水》载河神到海边，看到无边无际的大海，望洋向若而叹”(若海神名)，感叹自己的渺小◇遂用望洋兴叹”比喻做一件事因力量不够而无可奈何。
望 wàng 洋 yáng 兴 (興) xìng/xīng 叹 (嘆) tàn
EXAMPLE SENTENCES

作为奢侈品牌必须制造望洋兴叹的感觉。

Often inaccessible as a luxury brand must make sense.

但该技术的高成本仍让人望洋兴叹。

But the technology's high cost remains its Achilles heel.

地球生物只能对着那儿致密的星团和大质量气体尘埃望洋兴叹。

Earthlings can only wonder at the dense star clusters and massive gas and dust clouds that reside there.

参加大型聚会，只能望洋兴叹，众多人群中不知哪个更适合自己，跟在路上陌生人相逢没什么两样。

In big parties, they know many people, which is more suitable to meet in the way, and strangers.

他们想买个单元房，但是上海的房地产泡沫让他们望洋兴叹，到时候他们就租个单元房住。

They would like to buy a flat - at the moment they rent - but a housing bubble in Shanghai is making that difficult.

而饭店餐饮要与社会餐馆竞争虽有一些不能等同比较的制约条件，但这并不意味着饭店就只能望洋兴叹，束手待毙。

Hotels and restaurants catering to the community and not the same competition although some comparisons constraints, but this does not mean that the hotel will only slide, wait to die.

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