焦頭爛額

1. • lit. badly burned about the head (from trying to put out a fire) (idiom)
2. • fig. hard-pressed under pressure (from a heavy workload, creditors etc)

Character by character

• 焦(jiāo)surname Jiao
• 頭(tóu)head
• 爛(làn)soft
• 額(é)forehead