Chinese symbol for “smug”
踌躇满志
chóu chú mǎn zhì
Traditional: 躊躇滿志
enormously proud of one's success (idiom); smug; complacent
The closest CC-CEDICT match for smug is 踌躇满志 (chóu chú mǎn zhì), defined as: enormously proud of one's success (idiom); smug; complacent.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “smug”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 得瑟 | dè se | (dialect) cocky; smug; to show off |
| 屁颠屁颠 (屁顛屁顛) | pì diān pì diān | lit. jolting buttocks; (colloquial intensifier) groveling |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 踌躇满志.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 踌躇 (躊躇) | chóu chú | to hesitate; (literary) to pace back and forth |
| 踌躇不前 (躊躇不前) | chóu chú bù qián | to hesitate to move forward; to hesitate |
| 踌躇不决 (躊躇不決) | chóu chú bù jué | to hesitate; indecisive |
| 踌蹰 (躊躕) | chóu chú | variant of 踌躇 (chóu chú) |
| 踟躇 | chí chú | variant of 踟蹰 (chí chú) |
| 满足 (滿足) | mǎn zú | to satisfy; to meet (the needs of) |
| 充满 (充滿) | chōng mǎn | full of; brimming with |
| 满意 (滿意) | mǎn yì | satisfied; pleased |
| 同志 | tóng zhì | comrade; (slang) homosexual |
See also: Japanese symbol for “smug”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.