自圆其说
zì​yuán​qí​shuō

to justify oneself

  • created sense approved 自圆其说/自圓其說 · zì​yuán​qí​shuō · to justify oneself — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    自圆其说 / 自圓其說

    zì​yuán​qí​shuō

    to justify oneself

    to make one's story or theory consistent; to give a plausible explanation for a claim that seems contradictory; to plug the holes in one's argument

    自 (literal) → 自 · zì · self 圆 (literal) → 圆/圓 · yuán · to make plausible 其 (literal) → 其 · qí · [third-person possessive] 说 (literal) → 说/說 · shuō · to explain

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense