躺平 tǎng píng
The quiet refusal to keep competing.
The short answer
CasualNow commonChecked November 2026
Tangping means “to lie flat”: deliberately doing the minimum instead of competing for things — promotions, apartments, status — that feel out of reach anyway.
In a chat
- 琦琦 Qiqi
你考研准备得怎么样了？
How's your prep for the grad school exam going?
- 灯灯 Dengdeng
不考了，我躺平了。
I'm not taking it. I'm lying flat.
- 琦琦 Qiqi
真的假的？那你接下来干什么？
Seriously? So what will you do next?
- 灯灯 Dengdeng
先找个轻松点的工作，慢慢来。
First I'll find an easier job and take it slow.
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How to reply
躺平也挺好的，别太累了。
Lying flat is fine too. Don't wear yourself out.
那我也想躺平！
Then I want to lie flat too!
When not to use it
- Never say you want to 躺平 in a job interview. It means you plan to do the minimum.
- With parents or older relatives, it can sound like you gave up on life. Say 想轻松一点 (I want an easier life) instead.
What it means
Where neijuan names the race, tangping names walking off the track. A person who is 躺平 still works, still eats, still sees friends — they just decline the extra certificate, the sixth round of overtime, the “great opportunity” that costs money. Enough, in other words.
It is a refusal, not a depression. The tone is usually dry humor: saying you are lying flat while clearly still answering emails.
How people use it
Use it about yourself or as commentary: 他躺平了, “he's stopped striving”. The opposite in a sentence is common — 不内卷，也不躺平, “neither grinding nor giving up” — which is roughly the “work-life balance” position.
Foreign coverage often calls tangping China's quiet protest. Chinese officials have criticized it, which only made the word more popular. Many people who praise it in comments keep grinding in practice; the word lets them say the feeling out loud.
Where it comes from
In April 2021, a young man posted a short manifesto on Baidu Tieba titled “Lying Flat Is Justice”. He described living on odd jobs, doing a month of work now and then, and refusing to buy a house or marry under pressure. The post spread everywhere within weeks.
The timing explains the reception: housing prices, tutoring costs, and 996 schedules had made the promises of effort feel broken to many young people. Tangping gave the mood a two-character name, and it landed on the 2021 internet-word lists.
In use
2 examples他辞掉大厂的工作，回老家躺平了。
He quit his big-tech job and went back home to lie flat.
我不内卷，也不躺平，我找个平衡。
I'm neither grinding myself down nor lying flat — I'm looking for a balance.
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.