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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

自以為是

/t͡sɹ̩⁵¹ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ weɪ̯³⁵ ʂɻ̩⁵¹/
to consider oneself in the right; to regard oneself as infallible; self-righteous
  • 自以爲是
  • 自以为是
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The phrase describes a person who views themselves as the sole source of truth, standing alone in their own righteousness.
The phrase describes a person who views themselves as the sole source of truth, standing alone in their own righteousness.

Origin

The phrase originates from the text *Xunzi* (《荀子·榮辱》). It is formed by the characters 自, meaning self or oneself; 以, a preposition expressing boundary, orientation, or direction; 為, meaning to do, to accomplish, or to take action; and 是, meaning this or this thing.

The character 為 is the simplified form of 爲. Both 為 and 爲 contain the components 又, meaning again or once more, and 象, meaning elephant.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「自以為是」由四個漢字組成。其中「自」代表自己或己方；「以」作為介詞，用來表示時間、方向或指向等界限；「為」意指做、完成或採取行動，此字為「爲」的簡化字，包含「又」與「象」兩個組成部分；「是」則指這或這件事。

根據文獻記載，此成語最早見於《荀子·榮辱》。其核心含義在於認為自己是正確的，甚至視自己為不會犯錯，表現出自我中心且不願採納他人意見的態度。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese自 “self, oneself; one's own”
  • characterChinese以 “a preposition that expresses a boundary in time, orientation, direction or quantity”
  • characterChinese為 “to do; to accomplish; to take action”
    • simplified fromChinese爲
    • ideaChinese又 “again; once more”
    • ideaChinese象 “elephant (Classifier: 頭／头 m; 隻／只 m c mn)”
  • characterChinese是 “this; this thing”
Wiktionary etymology text

From Xunzi (《荀子·榮辱》)

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

phrase
  1. to consider oneself in the right; to regard oneself as infallible; self-righteous

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 認為自己的觀點與做法皆屬正確，不肯虛心接受別人的意見。 例：一個人縱使才高八斗，學富五車，也不能凡事固執己見，自以為是。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 自以為是