Sérelem

Sérelem is a Hungarian noun that denotes distress, hardship, or a grievance. It can refer to a feeling of being wronged or harmed by a situation or by someone else, as well as to a concrete complaint or claim that someone raises, often with the expectation of redress. The term covers both emotional experiences of injustice and formal or social grievances.

Usage and nuances: Sérelem usually points to an actual or perceived injustice rather than mere irritability. It is closely related to phrases such as jogos sérelem (a legitimate grievance) and can be used in legal, administrative, or moral contexts. In everyday language it may describe personal distress, while in formal discourse it can denote a cause of complaint that warrants remedy or attention. Distinctions are often drawn with related terms: panasz emphasizes the act of complaining, szenvedés emphasizes suffering, and sérelem highlights the injustice or harm experienced.

Common contexts: discussions of individual or collective harm, complaints about policies or decisions, and narratives of personal or moral injury. In literature and journalism, sérelem frequently signals a perceived wrong that calls for accountability or remedy.

Etymology: the word is native to Hungarian and is connected to the root meaning to harm or injure (sérel/sér-), with the suffix -lem forming an abstract noun that denotes the experience or result of that harm.

See also: panasz, szenvedés, igazságtalanság, jogos sérelem.