发火

• Pinyin: fā huǒ
• Hanzi breakdown: 发 = 弓 + 殳 — to release, emit; 火 = pictograph of flames — fire; anger likened to fire bursting out

Meaning

To lose one's temper; to flare up in anger; to explode with rage. Also: (of a weapon or device) to fire or detonate.

In everyday usage almost exclusively means to lose one's temper. Implies an outward, visible expression of anger — more intense than 生气 and less calculated than 愤怒. Common in family, workplace, and interpersonal contexts.

Examples

1. 经理在会议上当众发火，批评团队因一时疏忽导致重要客户的合同条款出现了严重错误。 The manager lost his temper in front of everyone at the meeting, criticizing the team for a moment of carelessness that led to serious errors in key contract terms for an important client.
2. 她知道此刻发火于事无补，便深吸一口气，努力压制住心中的怒意，以平静的语气继续交涉。 She knew that losing her temper wouldn’t help, so she took a deep breath, forced down her anger, and continued the negotiation in a calm tone.
3. 父亲虽然内心已经十分愤怒，但考虑到孩子正处于敏感的青春期，他选择了克制，没有当场发火。 Although the father was already furious, considering that his child was in a sensitive teenage phase, he chose to restrain himself and didn’t blow up on the spot.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, workplace, family, interpersonal

Tone: emotional

Do Say

• 听到项目再度延期，他克制住当场发火的冲动。(Hearing that the project was delayed again, he restrained the urge to lose his temper on the spot.)
• 教育专家指出，父母在孩子面前频繁发火不仅无助于纠正问题行为，反而会使孩子产生恐惧和逆反心理，长期影响亲子关系的质量与信任基础。(Education experts point out that parents frequently losing their temper in front of children not only fails to correct problematic behaviour, but also causes children to develop fear and defiance, with long-term effects on the quality and trust foundation of the parent-child relationship.)

Don't Say

• 他对我很发火 — 发火 does not take 对 + person as a direct object in this pattern; say 他对我大发火气 or 他冲我发火 for the correct collocation when specifying the target of anger

Origin & History

发 (to emit/give rise to) + 火 (fire) — to release fire from within, i.e., to flare up in anger

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal