妄自尊大 (wàng zì zūn dà) — arrogant and overweening; to think too highly of oneself

Definition

A formal chengyu meaning to overestimate oneself and look down on others. Stronger and more literary than 骄傲, and used to criticize arrogance rather than praise confidence.

idiom
arrogant and overweeningto think too highly of oneself

Examples

  • 妄自尊大，。
    Tā zhè ge rén zǒng shì wàng zì zūn dà, kàn bù qǐ bié rén.
    He is always arrogant and looks down on others.
  • 妄自尊大。
    wàng zì zūn dà De tài dù zhī huì ràng nǐ shī qù péng you.
    An arrogant attitude will only make you lose friends.
  • 妄自尊大，。
    Yí gè rén rú guǒ wàng zì zūn dà, jiù hěn nán jìn bù.
    If a person is arrogant, it's hard to make progress.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

妄自recklessly
妄wàngreckless自zìself
偏正Modifier + head
尊大regard as great
尊zūnhonor大dàgreat
补充Verb + complement

妄自 (recklessly) 尊大 (regard oneself as great), so it describes arrogant self-importance.

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
亡
亡wáng妄wàng
Same sound today

妄 combines 亡, which supplies the sound, with 女, a woman.

Open 妄 →

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 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape combines 寸 (hand) and 酋 (wine), showing a hand offering a wine vessel to express respect; some forms show two hands instead.

Open 尊 →

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 →

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