This phrase comes from French and means to work or play too hard without sleep and refers to a life that is lived frenetically and unsustainably - working or enjoying oneself late into the night only to begin again early the next day. It first appeared in the eighteenth century. Then the both ends weren't the ends of the day but were a literal reference to both ends of a candle. Candles were valuable and the notion of waste suggested by lighting both ends at once implied reckless waste.

Übersetzung:

sich zu viel aufladen

Gegenteil(e)

The opposite of "burn the candle at both ends" is " to live a life of ease".

Synonym(e):

You can also say: to take on too much.