腹はらいせ

は

ら

い

せ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

venting one's anger; retaliation; revenge

Refers to taking out one's anger or frustration on someone or something, often in a petty or indirect way, rather than a calculated act of revenge.

彼かれは上じょう司しに叱しかられた腹はらいせに、部ぶ下かに当あたった。
He took out his anger on his subordinate after being scolded by his boss.
ただの腹はらいせでそんなことを言いうのはやめなさい。
Stop saying things like that just to vent your anger.

See all 3 example sentences ›

Kanji

腹abdomen, belly, stomach
癒healing, cure, quench (thirst)

Related words

仕し返かえし
仕返し implies a more direct act of revenge or getting even, while 腹いせ focuses on the emotional release of anger, often through an unrelated target.
八やつ当あたり
八つ当たり specifically means lashing out at someone who is not the cause of one's anger, which is a common form of 腹いせ.

Written forms

腹はらいせUsage94%
Standard spelling; the kanji 腹 (belly) and いせ (from 癒せ, soothing) combine to mean venting one's anger.
腹はら癒いせUsage4%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; the character 癒 (healing) is not commonly written in this word.
はらいせUsage1%

Etymology

Compound of 腹 (hara, 'belly', metaphorically the seat of emotions) and いせ, the nominalized form of 癒す (iyasu, 'to heal, soothe'). Literally 'soothing one's belly', it came to mean venting one's anger to feel better.