How to Write 恣 (zì) — Meaning “unrestrained”

Imagine a person with a 'second heart' (次心) that acts on impulse, ignoring rules — this extra heart makes them 'unrestrained'. Picture someone throwing caution away and doing whatever their heart desires, which directly matches the meaning of 恣.

Write the top part 次 first: strokes are dot, left-falling, horizontal, left-falling, and right-falling (total 6 strokes). Then write the bottom 心 as a wide, flat shape; be careful the three dots are evenly spaced and the bottom curve is not too narrow. A common mistake is making the 心 part too small or misaligning the two components vertically.

恣 (zì) has 次 on top meaning 'unrestrained', while 忝 (tiǎn) has 天 on top meaning 'to shame' or 'to disgrace', and 忞 (wěn) has 文 on top meaning 'to work hard' or 'earnest'. Visually, 恣 uses the radical 心 at the bottom, but the top parts are different: 次 for 恣, 天 for 忝, and 文 for 忞.

恣 appears mostly in formal or literary Chinese, not in daily conversation. Common words like 恣意 (zì yì, 'willfully') and 放恣 (fàng zì, 'unbridled') describe acting freely or indulging without control, often with a slightly negative tone. Culturally, the character reflects the classical Chinese value of self-restraint, as being too 恣 implies a lack of discipline.

Common words containing 恣 include: 恣意 (zì yì) — willfully; 放恣 (fàng zì) — unbridled; wanton; 恣情 (zì qíng) — to one's heart's content.