📖 Meaning
This idiom means to have things turn out exactly as one wishes and to feel fully satisfied. It is a variant of the more common idiom 称心如意. It describes a state where one's desires and expectations are completely fulfilled.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in the essay collection Written on the Margins of Life (《写在人生边上》) by the modern scholar and writer Qian Zhongshu (钱锺书, 1910–1998). In the piece 'The Devil Visits Mr. Qian Zhongshu at Night,' Qian observes that those who write autobiographies often have little of their own lives worth recording, so they 逞心如意地 (freely and to their own satisfaction) fabricate a self-portrait that even their own wives and sons would not recognize. The phrase conveys acting exactly as one pleases, without restraint or contradiction.
💡 Example Usage
他终于找到了一份逞心如意的工作，每天都干劲十足。
He finally found a job that fully satisfied him, and he was full of energy every day.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 逞心如意
- Pinyin: chěng xīn rú yì
- Literal Translation: satisfy, heart, as, desire
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4