振振有词

振振有詞

zhènzhèn-yǒucí

idiom #73,391

Meanings

1 to argue self-righteously
2 to speak with seeming justification
3 to be full of plausible-sounding arguments

Characters

to shake; rousing; emphatic

words; arguments

Examples

HSK 5

他振振有词，仿佛错的是别人。

Tā zhènzhèn-yǒucí, fǎngfú cuò de shì biérén.

He argued so forcefully it was as if someone else were in the wrong.

HSK 7-9

他迟到了还振振有词地为自己辩解。

Tā chídào le hái zhènzhèn-yǒucí de wèi zìjǐ biànjiě.

Even though he was late, he defended himself with self-righteous confidence.

HSK 7-9

面对证据，被告居然振振有词地否认一切。

Miànduì zhèngjù, bèigào jūrán zhènzhèn-yǒucí de fǒurèn yíqiè.

Faced with the evidence, the defendant astonishingly denied everything with great self-assurance.

Tips

usage

Almost always negative - the speaker sounds reasonable but is actually in the wrong. Don't use to describe a genuinely just argument; for that use 理直气壮.

mistakes

The character is 词 ('words'), not 辞. Also commonly misread as zhēn zhēn - the correct reading is zhèn zhèn (4th tone).

Stroke Order

振 zhèn

有 yǒu

词 cí