Chinese word

冤枉

Pronunciation

Pinyinyuān wǎng

Meaning

  • verbwrongly accuse

Example

别把他冤枉了，他昨天不在这里。bié bǎ tā yuān wǎng le tā zuó tiān bú zài zhè lǐ

Don't wrongly accuse him; he wasn't here yesterday.

Illustration for 冤枉 (wrongly accuse)

More examples

他被误解，差点被冤枉。tā bèi wù jiě chà diǎn bèi yuān wǎng

He was misunderstood and nearly wrongly accused.

Core concept

Blame or punishment is forced onto the wrong person instead of resting with its proper target.

Common phrases

  • 把某人冤枉了bǎ mǒu rén yuān wǎng le

    wrongly accuse someone

  • 被冤枉bèi yuān wǎng

    be wrongly accused

  • 冤枉好人yuān wǎng hǎo rén

    wrongly accuse a good person

Similar words

诬陷wū xiàn: Falsely accuse someone on purpose in order to harm or trap them.
误解wù jiě: Take the meaning of someone's words or actions the wrong way.
责备zé bèi: Scold someone by pointing out a mistake or unacceptable attitude.
指控zhǐ kòng: Accuse someone officially and hold them responsible based on evidence or a claim.

Definition in Chinese

使某人承受本不该承受的指责或处罚，即把罪名或责任错误地加在别人身上shǐ mǒu rén chéng shòu běn bù gāi chéng shòu de zhǐ zé huò chǔ fá jí bǎ zuì míng huò zé rèn cuò wù dì jiā zài bié rén shēn shàng

Word origin

冤 (yuān, "wronged") points to undeserved harm, while 枉 (wǎng, "bent or unjust") adds the sense of something being put off the right course.

Usage tips

  • In everyday speech, the word often appears when someone rejects unfair blame, which makes it stronger than a complaint about an ordinary mistake.

Other meanings

  • mistreatverb
  • frameverb

Opposites

  • 平反píng fǎnexonerateverb
  • 昭雪zhāo xuěclear someone's nameverb

Word lists with this word