“Burn the Candle at Both Ends”
Cersei from Game of Thrones
💭 Meaning
To “burn the candle at both ends” is to exhaust oneself by overworking, i.e., staying up too late and waking up too early, or generally overextending your time and energy without enough rest.
✍️ Examples
Henry warned his student against burning the candle at both ends during finals week just to squeeze in extra essay revisions.
Between client meetings and writing the guidebook late at night, Henry knew he was burning the candle at both ends.
The overachieving applicant was burning the candle at both ends, juggling five AP classes and three extracurricular leadership roles.
📜 Origin
The phrase originated in 17th-century France, translated from the French expression “brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts," originally used to describe wasteful spending or squandering resources (since burning a candle from both ends used up the wax twice as fast). Over time, the meaning shifted in English toward describing overexertion, particularly burning through personal energy and time rather than material resources. By the 20th century, it had become the go-to phrase for anyone pushing themselves too hard between work, responsibilities, and lack of sleep.
