任性 (rén xìng) — willful, headstrong, unruly (acting on impulse… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Acting on personal whim regardless of others or consequences — a character flaw, not a single action. Stronger and more self-centered than 调皮 ('mischievous'); more about ignoring reason than 顽固 ('stubborn') or 鲁莽 ('reckless').

adjective

willfulheadstrongunruly (acting on impulse or personal whim regardless of reason or consequences)

Easily confused

人性rén xìngsound-alikehuman nature

Examples

任性，。
Tā zuò shì tài rén xìng, bú gù bié rén de gǎn shòu.
He acts too willfully, disregarding others' feelings.
任性，。
Wǒ zhī dào zì jǐ yǒu diǎn rén xìng, dàn jiù shì xiǎng zhè me zuò.
I know I'm a bit headstrong, but I just want to do it this way.
任性，。
Nǐ zài zhè me rén xìng xià qù, méi rén yuàn yì bāng nǐ le.
If you keep being this unruly, no one will want to help you.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

任rènindulge

任 expresses indulging or following, 性 one's nature, together meaning willful.

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.

亻壬任

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

壬

壬rén任rèn

Same sound today

任 pairs 亻, a person, with 壬, which may picture a shoulder pole turned sideways.

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

忄生性

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

生

生shēng性xìng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Personality & Traits

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