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如愿以偿 (rú yuàn yǐ cháng) — to have one's wish fulfilled; to achieve what one has long desired

Definition

A formal chengyu meaning 'to have one's wish finally fulfilled' — emphasizes that a long-held desire has been achieved. 称心如意 focuses on a result being satisfying, not on getting what one wished for.

phrase
to have one's wish fulfilledto achieve what one has long desired

Examples

  • ，，如愿以偿。
    Jīng guò wǔ nián nǔ lì, tā kǎo shàng le dà xué, zhōng yú rú yuàn yǐ cháng le.
    After five years of hard work, he got into university and finally had his wish fulfilled.
  • ，如愿以偿。
    Tā yì zhí xiǎng qù fēi zhōu lǚ xíng, jīn nián zhōng yú rú yuàn yǐ cháng le.
    She had always wanted to travel to Africa, and this year she finally got her wish.
  • ，，如愿以偿。
    Tā de mèng xiǎng shì chéng wéi zuò jiā, xīn shū chū bǎn hòu, tā zhōng yú rú yuàn yǐ cháng.
    His dream was to become a writer; after his new book was published, he finally had his wish fulfilled.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ如rú
Same sound today

如 is built from 口 (mouth) for its meaning and 女 (woman) for its sound.

Open 如 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
原
原yuán愿yuàn
Same sound today

愿 places 心 (heart) below 原, which supplies the sound yuán; the 心 part marks the sense of heart or feeling.

Open 愿 →

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

The shape came from a drawing of a person carrying something; in 以, part of that person is still visible on the right.

Open 以 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 償; 偿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
賞
賞shǎng償cháng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 償 pairs 亻 (person) with 賞 as the sound part; the simplified 偿 is a later shorthand, not a historical component breakdown.

Open 偿 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set PhrasesSuccess & Failure

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