“内卷”可能是近两年中文网络上最常见的词之一，那么这到底是什么意思呢？
最开始，这个词指一种社会或文化不再发展，也没有办法变得更高级，只能在内部变得更加复杂的现象。
后来越来越多的人使用，特别是在学生和上班族等人群中非常流行，逐渐变成了网络热词。
“内卷”这种现象是指一种非理性的内部竞争，不断低水平地重复。
现在社会竞争压力太大，资源有限，大家不得不付出更多不必要的努力来取得一些资源。
每个人都付出得越来越多，但是收获越来越少。
这个词描述的社会现象引起了很多年轻人的共鸣，没有意义的竞争让大家感到不满和无奈，但又没有能力改变，因为这是一种不允许失败和退出的竞争。
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| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 内卷 | nèi juǎn | (embryology) to involute; involution / (of a society) to become more and more of a rat race; to become increasingly competitive (due to limited resources) |
| 可能 | kě néng | might (happen) / maybe / perhaps |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 近 | jìn | near / close to |
| 两 | liǎng | two / both / some / a few |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 中文 | Zhōng wén | Chinese language |
| 网络 | Wǎng luò | Internet |
| 上 | shàng | (noun suffix) on; above |
| 最 | zuì | (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est |
| 常 | cháng | common / general / constant |
| 见 | jiàn | to see / to meet / to appear (to be sth) / to interview |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 词 | cí | word |
| 之一 | zhī yī | one of (sth) / one out of a multitude / one (third, quarter, percent etc) |
| 那么 | nà me | then; in that case |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 到底 | dào dǐ | finally / in the end / when all is said and done / after all |
| 什么 | shén me | what? |
| 意思 | yì si | idea / opinion / meaning |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?") |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | beginning |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 指 | zhǐ | to point at or to / to indicate or refer to |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 种 | zhǒng | classifier for types, kinds, sorts |
| 社会 | shè huì | society |
| 或 | huò | or |
| 文化 | wén huà | culture / civilization |
| 不再 | bù zài | no more; no longer |
| 发展 | fā zhǎn | to develop / to grow / to expand |
| 也 | yě | also; too; as well; (not ...) either |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | to not have |
| 办法 | bàn fǎ | way of handling sth; means; measure; (practical) solution to a problem |
| 变 | biàn | to change / to become different / to transform / to vary |
| 得 | de | structural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to following phrase indicating effect, degree, possibility etc |
| 更 | gèng | more / even more / further / still / still more |
| 高级 | gāo jí | high level / high grade / advanced / high-ranking |
| 只 | zhǐ | only; merely; just |
| 能 | néng | can / to be able to / might possibly |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 内部 | nèi bù | interior / inside (part, section) |
| 更加 | gèng jiā | more (than sth else) / even more |
| 复杂 | fù zá | complicated; complex |
| 现象 | xiàn xiàng | phenomenon / appearance |
| 后来 | hòu lái | afterwards; later |
| 越来越 | yuè lái yuè | more and more |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 使用 | shǐ yòng | to use / to employ / to apply / to make use of |
| 特别 | tè bié | very; especially; particularly / in particular |
| 学生 | xué shēng | student / schoolchild |
| 和 | hé | and; together with |
| 上班 | shàng bān | to go to work / to be on duty / to start work / to go to the office |
| 族 | zú | race / nationality / ethnicity / clan / by extension, social group (e.g. office workers 上班族) |
| 等 | děng | and so on; etc.; et al. / (used to end an enumeration) |
| 人群 | rén qún | crowd |
| 中 | zhōng | within; among; in |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really |
| 流行 | liú xíng | (of a style of clothing, song etc) popular / fashionable |
| 逐渐 | zhú jiàn | gradually |
| 成 | chéng | to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 热 | rè | fervent |
| 非 | fēi | non-; un-; in-; de- |
| 理性 | lǐ xìng | rational |
| 竞争 | jìng zhēng | competition |
| 不断 | bù duàn | unceasing / uninterrupted / continuous / constant |
| 低 | dī | low |
| 水平 | shuǐ píng | a standard; a level (of ability, development etc) |
| 地 | de | -ly / structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 重复 | chóng fù | to repeat / to duplicate |
| 现在 | xiàn zài | now; at present; currently |
| 压力 | yā lì | pressure |
| 太 | tài | too (much) / very / extremely |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest |
| 资源 | zī yuán | natural resource / resource |
| 有限 | yǒu xiàn | limited; finite |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone |
| 不得不 | bù dé bù | have no choice or option but to / cannot but / have to / can't help it / can't avoid |
| 付出 | fù chū | to pay; to expend; to invest (energy or time) |
| 更多 | gèng duō | more; greater in amount, degree, or number |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 必要 | bì yào | necessary / essential / indispensable / required |
| 努力 | nǔ lì | to make an effort; to try hard; to strive |
| 来 | lái | (between two verbs) in order to |
| 取得 | qǔ dé | to acquire; to get; to obtain |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 每 | měi | each / every |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 收获 | shōu huò | crop / harvest / profit / gain / bonus / reward |
| 少 | shǎo | few / less |
| 描述 | miáo shù | to describe |
| 引起 | yǐn qǐ | to give rise to; to lead to; to cause; to arouse |
| 很多 | hěn duō | many; a lot of |
| 年轻 | nián qīng | young |
| 共鸣 | gòng míng | sympathetic response |
| 意义 | yì yì | sense / meaning / significance / importance |
| 让 | ràng | to permit / to let sb do sth / to have sb do sth / to make sb (feel sad etc) |
| 感到 | gǎn dào | to feel; to sense; to perceive |
| 不满 | bù mǎn | dissatisfied; discontented; resentful |
| 无奈 | wú nài | frustrated / exasperated / helpless |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still |
| 又 | yòu | and yet |
| 能力 | néng lì | capability / ability |
| 改变 | gǎi biàn | to change / to alter / to transform |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 允许 | yǔn xǔ | to permit / to allow |
| 失败 | shī bài | failure / defeat |
| 退出 | tuì chū | to withdraw / to abort / to quit / to log out (computing) |