黑心

• Pinyin: hēi xīn
• Hanzi breakdown: 黑 = 里 (inside) + 灬 (fire) — sinister darkness; 心 = pictograph of the human heart

Meaning

Black-hearted; evil-minded; unscrupulous. As an adjective: morally corrupt and exploitative, driven by greed or malice. As a noun: a wicked heart or malicious intent.

黑心 is a colloquial but forceful condemnation. 黑心商家 (unscrupulous merchants), 黑心老板 (exploitative bosses), and 黑心钱 (money gained through exploitation) are common compounds. Frequently appears in consumer rights, labour rights, and social commentary contexts. It implies not mere incompetence or selfishness, but deliberate exploitation or harm to others for personal gain.

Examples

1. 这家黑心食品加工厂长期以工业原料冒充食品添加剂，严重损害了大量消费者的身体健康与合法权益。 This unscrupulous food processing plant has long used industrial materials to pass as food additives, seriously harming consumers’ health and violating their legal rights.
2. 劳动仲裁委员会裁定，该黑心企业拖欠工人工资逾十八个月，须立即足额补发，并依法承担相应法律责任。 The labor arbitration committee ruled that the unethical company had owed workers wages for over eighteen months and must pay them in full immediately and bear the corresponding legal liability.
3. 消费者投诉平台上，针对这家黑心电商的有效投诉已累计超过三千条，监管部门已正式介入调查处置。 On the consumer complaint platform, verified complaints against this unscrupulous e-commerce business have already surpassed three thousand, and regulators have formally stepped in to investigate and take action.

Usage Guide

Context: consumer rights, labour, business ethics, social commentary

Tone: indignant

Do Say

• 这些黑心商贩专门向外地游客销售以次充好的仿冒商品，被查处后仍拒不承认违法行为，态度十分嚣张。(These unscrupulous vendors specifically sold counterfeit and inferior goods to out-of-town tourists, and even after being caught, they refused to admit their illegal conduct, displaying an extremely arrogant attitude.)
• 媒体深度曝光这家黑心保健品公司的内幕后，舆论哗然，监管部门随即宣布对整个行业展开专项整治行动。(After the media published an in-depth exposé of this unscrupulous health-supplement company, public outrage erupted, and regulatory authorities immediately announced a special campaign to rectify the entire industry.)

Don't Say

• 黑心 for someone who is merely selfish or inconsiderate — the term implies active exploitation or deliberate harm to others for personal gain; use 自私 for mere selfishness

Origin & History

黑 (black; evil; sinister) + 心 (heart; mind; intention) — a darkened, malicious heart

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal