心塞

xīnsāi

adjective

Meanings

1 to feel stifled / crushed inside
2 heavy-hearted; emotionally choked up

Characters

to block; stuff

Examples

看到新闻我特别心塞。

Kàndào xīnwén wǒ tèbié xīnsāi.

Seeing the news makes me feel really crushed.

这种结局真让人心塞。

Zhè zhǒng jiéjú zhēn ràng rén xīnsāi.

This kind of ending is really heart-wrenching.

今天发生的事让我心塞了一整天。

Jīntiān fāshēng de shì ràng wǒ xīnsāi le yì zhěng tiān.

What happened today left me feeling crushed all day.

Tips

register

Very colloquial, common online since around 2014. Stronger than 难过 (sad) — implies being stuck and unable to do anything about it. Compare 郁闷 (depressed/stuffy) and 憋屈 (feeling wronged and bottled up).

Stroke Order

心 xīn

塞 sāi