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自命清高

Mandarin · pinyin zì mìng qīng gāo

to think of oneself as high and pure (idiom); smug and self-righteous
holier-than-thou

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Characters in this entry

自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction
清: qīng · clear, pure, clean; peaceful
高: gāo · high, tall; lofty, elevated; Kangxi radical 189

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1 · zi4 ming4 qing1 gao1

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to consider oneself morally superior to others and refuse to associate with others

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

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