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心安理得 (xīn ān lǐ dé) — to have a clear conscience; to feel justified and without guilt

Definition

A chengyu meaning to feel at ease and justified about what one has done. Often carries a slightly negative nuance — implying self-satisfaction or complacency, not just a clear conscience.

phrase
to have a clear conscienceto feel justified and without guilt

Examples

  • ，心安理得。
    Tā zuò le hǎo shì, suǒ yǐ xīn ān lǐ dé.
    He did a good deed, so his conscience is clear.
  • 心安理得。
    Tā jiē shòu le zhè bǐ qián hòu réng rán xīn ān lǐ dé.
    She still felt no qualms after accepting this sum of money.
  • ，心安理得。
    Zhǐ yào nǐ duì de qǐ zì jǐ de liáng xīn, jiù néng xīn ān lǐ dé.
    As long as you are true to your conscience, you can have peace of mind.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

心安heart is calm
心xīnheart安āncalm
主谓Subject + predicate
理得conscience is satisfied
理lǐconscience得désatisfied
主谓Subject + predicate

心 means heart and 安 means calm; 理 means conscience and 得 means satisfied, so 心安理得 is without guilt.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Emotions & FeelingsIdioms & Set Phrases

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.