Chinese word dictionary

咎由自取

jiù yóu zì qǔ · (idiom) to have only oneself to blame; to bring trouble through one's own actions

Practice word

Word information

Simplified咎由自取

Traditional咎由自取

Pinyinjiù yóu zì qǔ

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

咎jiù

fault, defect; error, mistake

由yóu

cause, reason; from

自zì

self; private, personal; from

取qǔ

to take, to receive, to obtain; to select

How to learn 咎由自取

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

自己zìjǐ

oneself; (attributive) one's own

来自láizì

to come from (a place); From: (in email header)

自行车zìxíngchē

bicycle; bike; CL:輛|辆[liang4]

大自然dàzìrán

nature (the natural world)

获取huòqǔ

to gain; to get; to acquire

取qǔ

to take; to get; to choose; to fetch