红温hóng wēn

Red-hot (fuming)

wǒ hóng wēn le.我红温了。I’m fuming.

红温 means “red-hot”. It describes someone so angry, frustrated or embarrassed that their face goes red, like an overheated machine.

Took off: 2024
Started in: League of Legends
Today: Current

What it means

You can say it about yourself, 我红温了, or tease someone else: 他红温了, “he’s fuming”. It is close to 急了, “got worked up”, and 破防, “my defenses broke”.

It is used for small things: a lost game, a rude comment, a missed bus.

How people use it

It is current and works far beyond games, as SmartShanghai noted in its 2026 slang guide.

里昂

又输了！队友太菜了
yòu shū le! duì yǒu tài cài le
Lost again! My teammates are so bad.
别急，再来一把
bié jí, zài lái yì bǎ
Chill. One more round.
不来了，我已经红温了
bù lái le, wǒ yǐ jīng hóng wēn le
I’m done. I’m already fuming.
哈哈，去喝杯水吧
hā hā, qù hē bēi shuǐ ba
Haha, go drink some water.

More examples

输了三把，他已经红温了。
shū le sān bǎ, tā yǐ jīng hóng wēn le.
He lost three games. He’s fuming.
别逗他了，他快红温了。
bié dòu tā le, tā kuài hóng wēn le.
Stop teasing him. He’s about to blow up.

Where it came from

In League of Legends, the champion Rumble drives a mech that heats up as he uses his skills. Past a certain heat his skills get stronger, and at the top the mech overheats. Chinese players call the hot state 红温.

Players then used the word for a player who was losing badly and went red in the face. From there it spread to every kind of anger and embarrassment.

语言文字周报 put 红温 on its list of the ten top internet phrases of 2024.

The original. In the game, Rumble is a small inventor in a mech built from scrap. A heat bar fills as he fights; past the halfway mark his skills get stronger, and when it is full he overheats. The League of Legends wiki explains it. League of Legends wiki