HSK 6 · Adjectives

理直气壮 lǐzhíqìzhuàng “bold and confident (being in the right)” in Chinese

Traditional 理直氣壯

What 理直气壮 means

  1. bold and confident (being in the right)
  2. in the right and self-confident (idiom)
  3. bold and confident with justice on one’s side
  4. to have the courage of one’s convictions
  5. just and forceful

How to say 理直气壮

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale理lǐ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale直zhí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale气qì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale壮zhuàng4th tone, falling

理直气壮 in a sentence

  1. 他理直气壮地说：“我没错！”

    Tā lǐzhíqìzhuàng de shuō: “Wǒ méi cuò!”

    He said boldly, “I’m not wrong!”

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 你做错了事，怎么还这么理直气壮？

    Nǐ zuòcuò le shì, zěnme hái zhème lǐzhíqìzhuàng?

    You’ve done something wrong, so how can you still be so sure of yourself?

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 理直气壮 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 理 (lǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
理lǐtexture
  • 王king · wángMeaning part
  • 里village · lǐSound part

王 hints at the meaning (king); 里 (lǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with lǐ.

Memory aid王 here is jade 玉: cutting jade along its grain. 里 (lǐ) gives the sound: to put in order, reason.

The character 直 (zhí) with each of its parts in a different colour
直zhístraight
  • 十ten · shí
  • 目eye · mù
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidPicture an eye 目 looking straight down a line: straight.

The character 气 (qì) drawn as one shape
气qìgas; air

气 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from layers of vapour rising: air, steam, breath.

The character 壮 (zhuàng) with each of its parts in a different colour
壮zhuàngto strengthen
  • 丬half of tree trunk · qiángSound part
  • 士scholar · shìMeaning part

士 hints at the meaning (scholar); 丬 (qiáng) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhuàng.

How to write 理直气壮

理 11 strokes · 直 8 strokes · 气 4 strokes · 壮 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

理直气壮 (lǐzhíqìzhuàng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 理直气壮 (lǐzhíqìzhuàng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 理直气壮

Words with 理

经理jīnglǐ · manager理解lǐjiě · to comprehend理想lǐxiǎng · an ideal理发lǐfà · to get a haircut修理xiūlǐ · to repair整理zhěnglǐ · to arrange管理guǎnlǐ · to supervise办理bànlǐ · to handle处理chǔlǐ · to handle合理hélǐ · rational

Words with 直

一直yìzhí · always直到zhídào · until直接zhíjiē · direct (opposite: indirect 间接)直zhí · straight简直jiǎnzhí · simply垂直chuízhí · vertical直径zhíjìng · diameter直播zhíbō · live broadcast

Words with 气

天气tiānqì · weather不客气bú kèqi · you’re welcome生气shēngqì · angry气qì · air力气lìqi · strength空气kōngqì · air气候qìhòu · climate脾气píqi · temper淘气táoqì · naughty小气xiǎoqì · stingy

Words with 壮

壮观zhuàngguān · spectacular壮丽zhuànglì · magnificent壮烈zhuàngliè · heroic

More words: Adjectives

灵敏língmǐn · sensitive零星língxīng · scattered吝啬lìnsè · stingy立体lìtǐ · three-dimensional隆重lóngzhòng · grand啰唆luōsuo · long-winded络绎不绝luòyìbùjué · in an endless stream忙碌mánglù · busy

FAQs

理直气壮 (lǐzhíqìzhuàng) means “bold and confident (being in the right)” or “in the right and self-confident (idiom)”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it lǐzhíqìzhuàng: lǐ with a 3rd tone, then zhí with a 2nd tone, then qì with a 4th tone, then zhuàng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 理直气壮 is written 理直氣壯. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type lizhiqizhuang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 理直气壮 from the suggestions. Typing lizhiqizhuang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
理直气壮 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.