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自大 (zì dà) — arrogant, self-important, conceited

Definition

A plain adjective meaning 'arrogant, full of oneself' — a single character carries the idea, no 离合 verb form. Heavier, more literary than 骄傲, which can also mean 'proud' in a positive sense.

adjective
arrogantself-importantconceited

Examples

  • 自大，。
    Tā zhè ge rén tài zì dà le, shuí de yì jiàn dōu tīng bú jìn qù.
    He is too arrogant and won't listen to anyone's opinion.
  • ，自大。
    Tā zǒng shì jué de zì jǐ bǐ bié rén qiáng, qí shí zhǐ shì zì dà ér yǐ.
    She always thinks she's better than others, but really she's just arrogant.
  • 自大。
    zì dà De rén hěn nán yì shí dào zì jǐ de quē diǎn.
    Arrogant people find it hard to realize their own shortcomings.

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zìself
大dàbig

自 means self and 大 means big, suggesting someone who thinks they are big.

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 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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