恋爱脑 liàn ài nǎo
Love first, good sense second.
The short answer
CasualCurrent slangChecked November 2026
Lian'ainao means “love brain”: a person who puts a partner before everything else, including friends, work, money and good sense. It is usually a criticism or a tease.
In a chat
- 琦琦 Qiqi
她男朋友让她辞职，去他的城市。
Her boyfriend asked her to quit her job and move to his city.
- 亮亮 Liangliang
她答应了？
Did she say yes?
- 琦琦 Qiqi
答应了，第二天就走了。
She did, and she left the next day.
- 亮亮 Liangliang
她也太恋爱脑了吧。
She's way too love-brained.
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How to reply
别太恋爱脑了，先想想自己。
Don't be so love-brained. Think about yourself first.
我不是恋爱脑，我只是喜欢他。
I'm not love-brained. I just like him.
When not to use it
- Do not call a friend 恋爱脑 in front of their partner. It sounds like you criticize the relationship.
- In formal writing, describe the behavior instead of using the label.
What it means
A 恋爱脑 thinks only about love. They cancel plans with friends for a date, forgive anything, and spend money or move to another city for a partner. People use the word about others as a warning, and about themselves as a confession.
How people use it
It is a noun and an adjective: 她是恋爱脑, 你太恋爱脑了 (“you're too love-brained”). Viewers use it a lot for TV characters who give up everything for love.
The opposite is a person who puts work first, sometimes called 事业脑, “career brain”.
Where it comes from
An article on Eye Shenzhen from August 2017 describes 恋爱脑 as a word that Chinese internet users made for people who cannot stop thinking about their partner. So the word was in use by 2017.
The World of Chinese wrote in August 2023 that the word had a revival, partly because of the TV series 我的人间烟火 (Fireworks of My Heart).
In use
2 examples他太恋爱脑了，为了女朋友什么都愿意做。
He's so love-brained. He'll do anything for his girlfriend.
谈恋爱可以，但别变成恋爱脑。
Dating is fine. Just don't turn into a love brain.
The characters
Explore individuallyIndividual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.
Sources
This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.