Definition
肝火 literally means 'liver fire' — a concept from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) where an imbalance in the liver's energy is thought to cause irritability, anger, and physical symptoms like headaches or red eyes. In everyday Chinese, 肝火 is used metaphorically to describe someone's temper or mood: 发肝火 means 'to lose one's temper', and 肝火大 means 'prone to anger'. You'll hear it in casual conversation, not just medical talk.
n.
(TCM) liver fire — a pattern of irritability and anger attributed to liver imbalance(figurative) a hot temperirascibility
Examples
- 肝火，。Tā zuìjìn gān huǒ hěn dà, dòng bú dòng jiù fā huǒ.He's been very irritable lately, losing his temper at the slightest thing.
- 肝火，。Nǐ gān huǒ zhème wàng, hē diǎn júhuā chá jiàng jiàng huǒ ba.Your liver fire is so strong — drink some chrysanthemum tea to cool it down.
- 肝火。Zhōngyī shuō gān huǒ tài shèng huì shāng shēntǐ de.Chinese medicine says that too much liver fire can harm your body.
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.