The Chinese word 义愤填膺 is formed from the characters 义 (righteousness), 愤 (indignation), 填 (to fill), and 膺 (chest). The first two characters combine as 义愤 to mean 'righteous indignation,' and the last two form 填膺, a verb-object phrase meaning 'to fill the chest.' When concatenated, the idiom literally translates to 'righteous indignation fills the chest,' conveying the concept of being filled with intense moral anger.