得罪
dézuì · HSK 7
offend
😤 得 (get) + 罪 (guilt/crime) = get on someones guilty side — offend them
If you make someone feel you got guilt or committed a crime against them, you have offended or displeased them. Dé-zuì sounds a bit like 'day-zway' — the day you swayed too far and crossed a line.
得 — 彳 (step) + 旦 (sun/day) + 寸 (hand)
Originally depicted a hand 寸 reaching for a cowrie shell 貝 (later simplified to 旦), with 彳 'step' added to show going out and obtaining something. The core meaning is 'to get' or 'obtain'. The reading děi extends this to 'must/have to' — what one is obliged to get done.
罪 — net 罒 (top) + wrong 非 (bottom)
罪 combines 罒 (net) over 非 (wrong), suggesting catching wrongdoing in a net. Originally the character 辠 (with 自 nose + 辛 punishment) meant 'crime,' but Emperor Qin Shi Huang found 辠 too similar to 皇 (emperor) and replaced it with 罪. Today it means crime, guilt, or sin.