洋洋得意 (yáng yáng dé yì) — to be immensely pleased with oneself; smug; com… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A four-character idiom describing someone who is smug and pleased with themselves, usually with a negative or critical tone.

verb

to be immensely pleased with oneselfsmugcomplacent

Examples

，洋洋得意。
Tā kǎo shì dé le dì yī míng, fēi cháng yáng yáng dé yì.
He got first place in the exam and was immensely pleased with himself.
洋洋得意，。
Tā zǒng shì yáng yáng dé yì de yàng zi, ràng rén bù xǐ huan.
He always has a smug look that makes people dislike him.
，洋洋得意。
Lǎo bǎn gāng biǎo yáng le tā jǐ jù, tā jiù yáng yáng dé yì qǐ lái.
As soon as the boss praised him a few words, he became complacent.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

氵羊洋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

羊

羊yáng洋yáng

Same sound today

洋 pairs 氵, the water part, with 羊 to give its sound.

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

氵羊洋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

羊

羊yáng洋yáng

Same sound today

洋 pairs 氵, the water part, with 羊 to give its sound.

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.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Emotions & Feelings Idioms & Set Phrases

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