心塞

xīnsāi

adjective

Meanings

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

Characters

to block; stuff

Examples

HSK 2

看到新闻我特别心塞。

Kàndào xīnwén wǒ tèbié xīnsāi.

Seeing the news makes me feel really crushed.

HSK 3

今天发生的事让我心塞了一整天。

Jīntiān fāshēng de shì ràng wǒ xīnsāi le yìzhěngtiān.

What happened today left me feeling crushed all day.

HSK 7-9

这种结局真让人心塞。

Zhèzhǒng jiéjú zhēn ràng rén xīnsāi.

This kind of ending is really heart-wrenching.

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