Chinese Chengyu Dictionary
A dictionary of chengyu, the four-character Chinese idioms. Search by expression, character or pinyin.
| Chengyu | Pinyin | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 濯足濯缨 | zhuó zú zhuó yīng | Translation not yet available |
| 擢发难数 | zhuó fà nán shǔ | Translation not yet available |
| 兹事体大 | zī shì tǐ dà | this is no small thing (idiom); to have a serious matter at hand |
| 孳蔓难图 | zī màn nán tú | Translation not yet available |
| 孳孳不倦 | zī zī bù juàn | Translation not yet available |
| 资深望重 | zī shēng wàng zhòng | Translation not yet available |
| 孜孜不倦 | zī zī bù juàn | lit. diligent and never slacking (idiom); continuous concentrated effort; assiduous (in study); to concentrate |
| 孜孜以求 | zī zī yǐ qiú | diligent and tireless (idiom) |
| 锱铢必较 | zī zhū bì jiào | to haggle over every cent (idiom) |
| 趑趄不前 | zī jū bù qián | hesitant and not daring to move forward (idiom) |
| 紫气东来 | zǐ qì dōng lái | Translation not yet available |
| 子虚乌有 | zǐ xū wū yǒu | (idiom) to have no basis in fact; to be the product of sb's imagination |
| 子曰诗云 | zǐ yuè shī yún | Translation not yet available |
| 字里行间 | zì lǐ háng jiān | between the words and the lines (idiom); implied meaning; connotations |
| 字斟句酌 | zì zhēn jù zhuó | weighing every word |
| 恣意妄为 | zì yì wàng wéi | to behave unscrupulously |
| 眦裂发指 | zì liè fà zhǐ | Translation not yet available |
| 自拔来归 | zì bá lái guī | Translation not yet available |
| 自暴自弃 | zì bào zì qì | to abandon oneself to despair; to give up and stop bothering |
| 自不量力 | zì bù liàng lì | to overestimate one's capabilities (idiom) |
| 自惭形秽 | zì cán xíng huì | to feel ashamed of one's inferiority (idiom); to feel inferior |
| 自成一家 | zì chéng yī jiā | to have a style of one's own |
| 自出机杼 | zì chū jī zhù | Translation not yet available |
| 自出心裁 | zì chū xīn cái | Translation not yet available |
| 自吹自擂 | zì chuī zì léi | to blow one's own trumpet (idiom) |
| 自得其乐 | zì dé qí lè | to find amusement in one's own way; to enjoy oneself quietly |
| 自高自大 | zì gāo zì dà | to think of oneself as terrific (idiom); arrogant |
| 自告奋勇 | zì gào fèn yǒng | to volunteer for; to offer to undertake |
| 自顾不暇 | zì gù bù xiá | Translation not yet available |
| 自坏长城 | zì huài cháng chéng | Translation not yet available |
| 自给自足 | zì jǐ zì zú | self-sufficiency; autarky |
| 自掘坟墓 | zì jué fén mù | to dig one's own grave |
| 自觉自愿 | zì jué zì yuàn | Translation not yet available |
| 自刽以下 | zì kuài yǐ xià | Translation not yet available |
| 自愧不如 | zì kuì bù rú | ashamed of being inferior (idiom); to feel inferior to others |
| 自力更生 | zì lì gēng shēng | regeneration through one's own effort (idiom); self-reliance |
| 自立门户 | zì lì mén hù | Translation not yet available |
| 自卖自夸 | zì mài zì kuā | Translation not yet available |
| 自鸣得意 | zì míng dé yì | to think highly of oneself |
| 自命不凡 | zì mìng bù fán | to think too much of oneself; self-important; arrogant |
Search by Chinese expression, character or pinyin.
The most frequent idioms are also on a separate dictionary page.
12,999 chengyu listed.
What a chengyu is, and what it is not
A chengyu is almost always four characters long, and it is not a proverb. It is a compressed classical phrase that Chinese still uses in ordinary speech and writing: the characters keep an old order and an old meaning, and unpacking them word by word will not give you the sense. That is why looking one up is a different job from looking up a word.
This tool searches the table of idioms by expression, character or pinyin. If you already have the four characters in front of you, that is the way in. If you do not, and you want to see which idioms are common enough to be worth knowing first, the browseable list is the other half of the same subject.