激愤 (jī fèn) — furious, indignant, angered

Definition

A written/formal adjective for intense public anger or moral outrage (e.g. 激愤的心情, 激愤的情绪). Stronger and more rhetorical than plain 愤怒, which is the everyday word for personal anger.

adjective
furiousindignantangered

Examples

  • 激愤。
    Tā tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi hòu fēi cháng jī fèn.
    He was very furious after hearing this news.
  • 激愤。
    Mín zhòng duì bù gōng píng de dài yù gǎn dào jī fèn.
    The public felt indignant about the unfair treatment.
  • 激愤。
    Tā jī fèn dì zhǐ zé le duì fāng de bú dào dé xíng wéi.
    He angrily denounced the other party's immoral behavior.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

激jīagitated
愤fènangry

激 says agitated and 愤 says angry, so together they describe a stirred-up fury.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
敫
敫jiǎo激jī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 激, the 氵 side marks water, and 敫 gives the sound jiǎo; the original sense is water swashing.

Open 激 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 憤; 愤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
賁
賁bì憤fèn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 憤 pairs 忄 (heart) with 賁, which gives the sound; the simplified 愤 is a later shorthand.

Open 愤 →

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