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 of crimes)

Characters

to vent, release

private, personal

anger, indignation

Examples

HSK 7-9

嫌疑人因被解雇而泄私愤，纵火烧毁了仓库。

Xiányírén yīn bèi jiěgù ér xièsīfèn, zònghuǒ shāohuǐ le cāngkù.

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

HSK 7-9

公器不能用来泄私愤。

Gōngqì bùnéng 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