Chinese Chengyu Dictionary
A dictionary of chengyu, the four-character Chinese idioms. Search by expression, character or pinyin.
| Chengyu | Pinyin | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 自欺欺人 | zì qī qī rén | to deceive others and to deceive oneself; to believe one's own lies |
| 自强不息 | zì qiáng bù xī | to strive unremittingly; self-improvement |
| 自轻自贱 | zì qīng zì jiàn | Translation not yet available |
| 自求多福 | zì qiú duō fú | Translation not yet available |
| 自取灭亡 | zì qǔ miè wáng | to court disaster (idiom); to dig one's own grave |
| 自取其咎 | zì qǔ qí jiù | Translation not yet available |
| 自生自灭 | zì shēng zì miè | to emerge and perish on its own; to run its course (idiom) |
| 自食其恶果 | zì shí qí è guǒ | Translation not yet available |
| 自食其果 | zì shí qí guǒ | to eat one's own fruit (idiom); fig. suffering the consequences of one's own action; to reap what one has sown |
| 自食其力 | zì shí qí lì | lit. to eat off one's own strength (idiom); fig. to stand on one's own feet; to earn one's own living |
| 自食其言 | zì shí qí yán | Translation not yet available |
| 自始至终 | zì shǐ zhì zhōng | from start to finish (idiom) |
| 自始自终 | zì shǐ zì zhōng | Translation not yet available |
| 自视甚高 | zì shì shèn gāo | to think highly of oneself (idiom); giving oneself airs; arrogant and self-important |
| 自私自利 | zì sī zì lì | everything for self and selfish profit (idiom); with no regard for others; selfish; mercenary |
| 自讨苦吃 | zì tǎo kǔ chī | to ask for trouble (idiom); to make a rod for one's own back |
| 自投罗网 | zì tóu luó wǎng | to walk right into the trap |
| 自我表现 | zì wǒ biǎo xiàn | Translation not yet available |
| 自我解嘲 | zì wǒ jiě cháo | Translation not yet available |
| 自我陶醉 | zì wǒ táo zuì | self-satisfied; self-imbued; narcissistic |
| 自我作古 | zì wǒ zuò gǔ | Translation not yet available |
| 自我作故 | zì wǒ zuò gù | Translation not yet available |
| 自相残杀 | zì xiāng cán shā | to massacre one another (idiom); internecine strife |
| 自相惊忧 | zì xiāng jīng rǎo | Translation not yet available |
| 自相矛盾 | zì xiāng máo dùn | to contradict oneself; self-contradictory; inconsistent |
| 自相鱼肉 | zì xiāng yú ròu | Translation not yet available |
| 自信不疑 | zì xìn bù yí | Translation not yet available |
| 自行其是 | zì xíng qí shì | to act as one thinks fit; to have one's own way |
| 自崖而反 | zì yá ér fǎn | Translation not yet available |
| 自言自语 | zì yán zì yǔ | to talk to oneself; to think aloud; to soliloquize |
| 自业自得 | zì yè zì dé | Translation not yet available |
| 自以为得计 | zì yǐ wéi dé jì | Translation not yet available |
| 自以为是 | zì yǐ wéi shì | to believe oneself infallible (idiom); to be opinionated |
| 自贻伊戚 | zì yí yī qī | to create trouble for oneself (idiom) |
| 自用则小 | zì yòng zé xiǎo | Translation not yet available |
| 自由泛滥 | zì yóu fàn làn | Translation not yet available |
| 自由放任 | zì yóu fàng rèn | laissez-faire |
| 自由自在 | zì yóu zì zài | free and easy (idiom); carefree; leisurely |
| 自圆其说 | zì yuán qí shuō | Translation not yet available |
| 自怨自艾 | zì yuàn zì yì | Translation not yet available |
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.