宣泄

• Pinyin: xuān xiè
• Hanzi breakdown: 宣 = 宀(roof) + 亘 (extend across); 泄 = 氵(water radical) + 世 (phonetic)

Meaning

To vent; to release (emotions or pressure). To let out pent-up feelings or accumulated tension through an outlet.

Used in psychology and everyday contexts to describe emotional release. Can refer to venting anger, frustration, grief, or stress. Common in counselling language and modern mental-health discourse. Can also refer to physical discharge (e.g., floodwater through a sluice).

Examples

1. 心理咨询师建议她通过写日记的方式宣泄内心积压已久的情绪，避免长期压抑引发更严重的心理问题。 The counselor suggested she vent the emotions she’d bottled up for years by keeping a journal, to avoid more serious mental health problems from long-term suppression.
2. 球迷在主队落败后聚集在广场上，以激烈的呼喊宣泄心中的不甘与失望。 After the home team lost, fans gathered in the square and vented their frustration and disappointment with intense shouting.
3. 他跑到山顶，对着远处的山谷大声呼喊，将多年积累的委屈一次性宣泄出来。 He ran to the mountaintop and shouted into the distant valley, letting out all the grievances he’d accumulated over the years in one burst.

Usage Guide

Context: psychology, emotions, daily life

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 他找了一个安静的地方，将这段时间承受的压力和委屈向好友一一宣泄，心情顿时轻松了许多。(He found a quiet place and vented all the pressure and grievances he had been bearing to a close friend, and immediately felt much lighter.)
• 适度宣泄情绪有助于维持心理健康，长期压抑反而可能引发更严重的问题。(Moderate emotional release helps maintain mental health; prolonged suppression may, on the contrary, trigger more serious problems.)

Don't Say

• 他宣泄了一首诗 — 宣泄 is about releasing emotions or tension, not producing creative works; for creating or expressing through poetry use 创作 or 写下; 宣泄 requires an emotional-outlet context

Origin & History

宣 (to spread/release) + 泄 (to leak/discharge)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal