HSK 6 · Adjectives

任性 rènxìng “wilful” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 任性 means

  1. wilful
  2. headstrong
  3. self-indulgent
  4. willful
  5. unruly

How to say 任性

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale任rèn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale性xìng4th tone, falling

任性 in a sentence

  1. 这孩子太任性了，想要什么就要什么。

    Zhè háizi tài rènxìng le, xiǎngyào shénme jiùyào shénme.

    This child is very wilful; whatever she wants, she has to have.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 别任性了，听听别人的意见吧。

    Bié rènxìng le, tīngting biéren de yìjiàn ba.

    Don’t be so headstrong; listen to what other people think.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 任性 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 任 (rèn) with each of its parts in a different colour
任rènto assign
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 壬part of the characterSound part
The character 性 (xìng) with each of its parts in a different colour
性xìngnature
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 生life · shēngSound part

忄 hints at the meaning (heart); 生 (shēng) hints at the sound. Compare it with xìng.

How to write 任性

任 6 strokes · 性 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 任性

Words with 任

任务rènwu · mission责任zérèn · responsibility任何rènhé · any信任xìnrèn · to trust担任dānrèn · to hold (a post)主任zhǔrèn · director任命rènmìng · to appoint上任shàngrèn · to take office任意rènyì · at will任重道远rènzhòngdàoyuǎn · to carry a heavy responsibility (lit. heavy load

Words with 性

性xìng · (suffix) -ness性别xìngbié · gender性格xìnggé · nature个性gèxìng · individuality性质xìngzhì · nature慢性mànxìng · chronic (illness)性命xìngmìng · life (of a person or animal)性感xìnggǎn · sexy记性jìxing · memory (ability to remember)弹性tánxìng · elasticity

More words: Adjectives

热门rèmén · popular仁慈réncí · kind人工réngōng · man-made人为rénwéi · man-made融洽róngqià · harmonious柔和róuhé · soft上进shàngjìn · eager to improve擅自shànzì · without permission

FAQs

任性 (rènxìng) means “wilful” or “headstrong”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it rènxìng: rèn with a 4th tone, then xìng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 任性 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type renxing with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 任性 from the suggestions. Typing renxing into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
任性 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.