义愤填膺

義憤填膺
yìfèntiányīng
idiom #50,851

Meanings

  1. 1 righteous indignation fills one's breast
  2. 2 to be filled with moral outrage

Examples

Kàndào xīnwén lǐ de nüèdài shìjiàn, tā yìfèntiányīng.
On seeing the abuse case in the news, he was filled with righteous indignation.
Qúnzhòng yìfèntiányīng, yāoqiú yánchéng xiōngshǒu.
The crowd was seething with outrage and demanded the culprit be severely punished.
Tā yìfèntiányīng de xiě le yì fēng gōngkāixìn.
In righteous anger, she wrote an open letter.

Tips

history
From Zeng Pu's late-Qing novel 《》 (Flower in a Sea of Sin), chapter 25: 不禁义愤填膺 — a minister, overcome with moral fury, drafts a lengthy memorial urging war. literally means 'chest'; the indignation is felt physically filling the breast.
usage
Reserved for anger over moral or social injustice — corruption, cruelty, betrayal of principle. Not for personal annoyance. The (righteousness) prefix is what distinguishes it from ordinary 愤怒.

Stroke Order

fèn
tián
yīng