泄私愤

洩私憤

xièsīfèn

verb #66,206

Meanings

1 to vent personal spite
2 to act out of malice
3 to settle a personal grudge (often used of crimes)

Characters

to vent, release

private, personal

anger, indignation

Examples

嫌疑人因被解雇而泄私愤，纵火烧毁了仓库。

Xiányí rén yīn bèi jiěgù ér xièsīfèn, zònghuǒ shāohuǐ le cāngkù.

The suspect, fired from his job, vented his spite by setting the warehouse on fire.

公器不能用来泄私愤。

Gōngqì bù néng yònglái xièsīfèn.

Public office must not be used to settle personal grudges.

Tips

register

Strongly negative — usually appears in news reports about crimes, abuse of authority, or online harassment. The standard verb-object structure with 泄 ('to vent') + 私愤 ('private resentment') is fixed; you don't separate the parts.

Stroke Order

泄 xiè

私 sī

愤 fèn