DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

好自為之

简好自为之 · 繁好自為之

Mandarin · pinyin hǎo zì wéi zhī

Characters in this entry

好: hǎo · good, excellent, fine; well
自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
為: Look up this written character
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

3–4–2–1 · hao3 zi4 wei2 zhi1

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

4character links

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

hou2 zi6 wai4 zi1

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

(original meaning, literary, archaic) to like to do everything him/herself in one's own way

(early modern, now rare) to do one's best; to endeavour to do something
(more common meaning nowadays, as a threat or admonition, derogatory) [You] better behave yourself, otherwise [you] will be in trouble! / You better watch out for yourself! You have been warned!