Nuance Dictionary / Overwhelm & Struggle
눈코 뜰 새 없다 nun-ko tteul sae eop-da
So overwhelmingly busy you don't even have a second to breathe
What does 눈코 뜰 새 없다 mean?
눈코 뜰 새 없다 (nun-ko tteul sae eop-da) means: So overwhelmingly busy you don't even have a second to breathe.
Literally 'no time to even open your eyes and nose'. It's the go-to phrase for the kind of week where you eat lunch at your desk in four minutes and still fall behind — total, physical busyness, not emotional overwhelm.
🎙️ 눈코 뜰 새 없다는 표기 그대로 읽지 않아요 — 실제로는 [눈코 뜰 쌔 업따]로 소리나요 (경음화, 자음군단순화). 발음 연습하기 →
How it's actually used
- 요즘 프로젝트가 겹쳐서 눈코 뜰 새 없이 바빠.
yojeum projeukteuga gyeopchyeoseo nunko tteul sae eopsi bappa.
I've got projects overlapping lately, so I don't even have a second to breathe.
💡 Often shortened to '눈코 뜰 새 없이'. - 월말이라 그런지 매장 일이 눈코 뜰 새 없이 바쁘네요.
wolmalira geureonji maejang iri nunko tteul sae eopsi bappuneyo.
Maybe because it's the end of the month, but work at the store is overwhelmingly busy.
💡 A polite yet vivid way to describe a crazy rush. - 요즘 마감 시즌이라 눈코 뜰 새 없이 바빠요.
yojeum magam sijeunira nunko tteul sae eopsi bappayo.
It's the deadline season these days, so I'm so overwhelmingly busy I don't even have a second to breathe.
💡 A very common idiom for extreme, frantic busyness.
Related words in Overwhelm & Struggle
기진맥진하다 gi-jin-maek-jin-ha-da버겁다 beo-geop-da지치다 ji-chi-da부담스럽다 bu-dam-seu-reop-da힘들다 him-deul-da