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I know this is going to get closed because it's more philosophical in nature but it's something that's brought up (subtle Asian traits, if curious)

Is the word proud is rarely used in Chinese culture and so does such a word truly exist in Chinese?

骄傲: proud
自豪: proud
而荣 (?) (why does this mean proud? dictionary entries don't mention this)

Sentences for "I'm proud of you:"

我以你为荣
我为你感到骄傲
我为你而荣

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  • Of course we don't have the word 'pound' in Chinese because we don't use alphabets. It is insulting to suggest Chinese doesn't have the concept of proud. How about I ask "Does the word 禮貌 exist in American English?"
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Dec 31, 2018 at 21:49
  • IMO not the type of questions to get closed at all.
    – Blaszard
    Jan 5, 2019 at 8:19
  • I don't think 而荣 is a word. 而 is just a grammar component, 为 sth./sb. 而 adj, feel adj(adv) for sth./sb.
    – 炸鱼薯条德里克
    Jan 5, 2019 at 8:37
  • I modified the title to make it less problematic. (I'd guess it was originally intended to be eye-catching and quirky, not jarring.)
    – Becky 李蓓 ♦
    Jul 17, 2020 at 5:00
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    Perhaps it becomes clearer or less "problematic" if we distinguish "proud" from "pride" or "self-esteem" from "lofty" and vice versa? Lumping all of them into one single category is bound to confound and confuse, all the more so when attempts are made to generalize and extrapolate them from across linguistic boundaries. Finally, as always, contextual elements must come into play, regardless of the language in question.
    – Wayne Cheah
    Jul 17, 2020 at 6:22

2 Answers 2

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Not really. If you check the meaning of 傲 and all the associate proverb, it is not rare. Indeed, the more normal translation of "proud of someone" is 引以为傲, 以某某为敖。

And many other associated word for proud you will rarely encounter in daily life usage , e.g.

  • 傲骨 ， 傲气

Some is neutral

  • 傲岸 haughty
  • 傲视 despise

傲 also used negatively in following case

  • 傲慢 arrogant
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  • 傲 is the perfect candidate for “proud.”
    – Mou某 ♦
    Dec 31, 2018 at 11:27
  • Only heard of 崖岸自高(have extremely high opinion on oneself) ; never heard of 傲岸; '傲视' is short for "傲视同儕" (proudly stand above one's peer). Proud can also be translated as "自負" . (having great pride in oneself)
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Jan 1, 2019 at 9:42
  • @TangHo 傲岸 usage is rare also because it is a rare characteristic. 自負 is a rather negative term.
    – mootmoot
    Jan 2, 2019 at 9:13
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驕傲 actually is translated into arrogant (adj.) or arrogance (n.) with the same negative connotation in English.

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  • Agree. Many people mix up傲and驕傲, inadvertently changing positive connotation to negative.
    – joehua
    Jul 17, 2020 at 23:34

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