Skip to content
rú 如 yú 鱼 dé 得 shuǐ 水

如鱼得水 rú yú dé shuǐ

like a fish in water; perfectly in one's element

Literally: like fish get water

Advanced 🐉 Animals & fables
🃏 Practise advanced chengyu

Tap a character above to see its stroke order and the words it appears in.

Origin

From the Sanguo Zhi (Shu Shu, Zhuge Liang Zhuan): Liu Bei said of Zhuge Liang, 孤之有孔明,犹鱼之有水也 — having Kongming is like a fish having water.

How to use it

Predicate or complement; positive. Often 在新岗位上如鱼得水.

Example sentences

Show:

Tap any word for its meaning and pinyin. The chengyu is highlighted.

  1. 她性格开朗，到了销售部门后如鱼得水，业绩节节攀升。
    Tā xìnggé kāilǎng, dào le xiāoshòu bùmén hòu rú yú dé shuǐ, yèjì jiéjié pānshēng.
    With her outgoing personality she has been in her element since joining the sales department, and her results keep climbing.
    she character cheerful, arrive (aspect particle) sales department after like fish get water, performance step-by-step climb
  2. 这位导演在喜剧领域如鱼得水，拍出了多部叫好又叫座的电影。
    Zhè wèi dǎoyǎn zài xǐjù lǐngyù rú yú dé shuǐ, pāi chū le duō bù jiàohǎo yòu jiàozuò de diànyǐng.
    This director is completely at home in comedy and has made several films that were both critical and box-office hits.
    this (measure) director at comedy field like fish get water, shoot out (aspect particle) many (measure) acclaimed and box-office-hit (attributive particle) film

More chengyu about animals & fables

All animals & fables chengyu →