泄气
xiè qì · HSK 7
to be discouraged
🎈 泄 leak + 气 air = air leaks out; a deflating balloon, hence to lose heart
Literally air (气) leaking (泄) out, as from a punctured tyre. The same draining-of-air doubles as a feeling: when your spirits drain away you feel discouraged, and calling someone 泄气 dismisses them as pathetic.
泄 — water radical 氵 + 世 (generation/world)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 氵 gives the water meaning while 世 supplies the sound. The original sense was water leaking or flowing out, which extended figuratively to 'leak out' (secrets, air) and 'discharge' or 'vent' (emotions, frustration).
气 — steam/vapor radical 气
Originally a pictograph of rising vapor or clouds drifting in the sky, depicting curling streams of air. The character came to mean breath, air, and by extension vital energy or 'qi.' The simplified form 气 keeps the original outline; the traditional 氣 added 米 (rice) to suggest steam rising from cooking grain.