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自傲 (zì ào) — arrogant, self-conceited; proud of (one's achievements, etc.), taking pride in

Definition

Covers both 'arrogant' and 'proud of one's own achievements' — the context decides which. The negative sense (conceited) is most common in warnings like example 1.

adjective
arrogantself-conceitedproud of (one's achievements, etc.)taking pride in

Examples

  • 自傲，。
    Tā guò yú zì ào, méi rén yuàn yì hé tā hé zuò.
    He is too arrogant; no one is willing to cooperate with him.
  • 自傲。
    zì ào De rén wǎng wǎng kàn bú dào zì jǐ de quē diǎn.
    Arrogant people often fail to see their own shortcomings.
  • 自傲。
    Tā zì ào yú zì jǐ de xué shù chéng jiù.
    He is proud of his academic achievements.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

自zìoneself
傲àoarrogant

“自” means oneself and “傲” means arrogant, describing oneself being arrogant.

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

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
人人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
敖
敖áo傲ào
Same sound today

傲 combines 人, meaning person, with 敖, which gives the sound.

Open 傲 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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