DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

好自為之

简好自为之 · 繁好自為之

Mandarin · pinyin hǎo zì wéi zhī

to do one's best; to shape up; to fend for oneself
you're on your own

Full entryShow on map

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.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–4–2–1 · hao3 zi4 wei2 zhi1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

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

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

好自為之 · find source passages ↗ · 好自为之 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

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

phrase

(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!

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack