埋怨

mán yuàn · HSK 7

to complain

埋 bury + 怨 grudge = to heap buried-up grudges on someone: complain, blame

埋 here reads mán (not the usual mái for bury) and 怨 means resentment or grudge. Together they mean piling stored-up resentment onto someone by complaining about and reproaching them.

埋 — earth 土 + village 里 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 土 (earth) gives the meaning of burying in soil, while 里 supplies the sound. The original sense was to cover or hide something underground, later extended to figurative meanings like 'bury oneself in work' or to conceal.

怨 — 夗 (phonetic) + 心 (heart)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the heart radical 心 supplies the meaning (an emotion) while 夗 gives the sound. The original sense was a deep grudge or resentment held in the heart, and the modern meanings 'to resent, blame, complain' all extend from that core feeling.

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