理 lǐ
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 王 — king, ruler
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
理直气壮
lǐzhíqìzhuàng
to be confident and forceful because one is in the right
Characters in this word
气 qì
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 气 — air, gas
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
壮 zhuàng
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 士 — scholar, gentleman
- Made of
- 丬 half of tree trunk 士 scholar, gentleman
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 他理直气壮地告诉老板，这个错误不是自己犯的。 Tā lǐzhíqìzhuàng de gàosu lǎobǎn, zhège cuòwù bú shì zìjǐ fàn de. He told the boss with full confidence that the mistake was not his.
- 她理直气壮地要求商家退款，因为商品确实有问题。 Tā lǐzhíqìzhuàng de yāoqiú shāngjiā tuìkuǎn, yīnwèi shāngpǐn quèshí yǒu wèntí. She demanded a refund from the seller with full confidence because the goods really were faulty.
- 我们准备得很充分，所以回答问题时理直气壮。 Wǒmen zhǔnbèi de hěn chōngfèn, suǒyǐ huídá wèntí shí lǐzhíqìzhuàng. We had prepared thoroughly, so we answered the questions with confidence.