DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

逍遙自在

简逍遥自在 · 繁逍遙自在

Mandarin · pinyin xiāo yáo zì zai

free and at leisure (idiom); unfettered
outside the reach of the law (of criminal)
at large

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

逍: xiāo · ramble, stroll, jaunt, loiter
遙: Look up this written character
自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
在: zài · be at, in, on; consist in, rest
遥: yáo · far away, distant, remote

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–4–5 · xiao1 yao2 zi4 zai5

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.

逍遙自在 · find source passages ↗ · 逍遥自在 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) free and unfettered; leisurely and carefree

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

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