春风得意 (chūn fēng dé yì) — to be very pleased with one's success; to be on the crest of a wave

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'proud and pleased with one's success,' like riding high on a wave. The 春风 (spring breeze) imagery paints a picture of someone glowing with confidence after a win.

idiom
to be very pleased with one's successto be on the crest of a wave

Examples

  • ，春风得意。
    Tā zuì jìn shēng zhí jiā xīn, zhēn shì chūn fēng dé yì.
    He recently got a promotion and a raise — he's really riding high.
  • 春风得意。
    chūn fēng dé yì De tā zǒu qǐ lù lái dōu dài zhe fēng.
    He walked with a spring in his step, full of pride and success.
  • ，春风得意，。
    Gōng sī shàng shì hòu, lǎo bǎn chūn fēng dé yì, dào chù yǎn jiǎng.
    After the company went public, the boss was on top of the world, giving speeches everywhere.

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.

春风spring breeze
春chūnspring风fēngwind
偏正Modifier + head
得意pleased
得déobtain意yìsatisfaction
动宾Verb + object

春风 brings the image of a spring breeze, while 得意 expresses feeling pleased; together they suggest success.

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
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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