忘恩负义 (wàng ēn fù yì) — to forget kindness and turn one's back on righteousness; to be ungrateful and betray the person who helped you

Definition

A strong moral condemnation meaning 'ungrateful and treacherous' — going beyond just forgetting a favor to actively betraying the person who helped you. Used for people who repay kindness with harm.

idiom
to forget kindness and turn one's back on righteousnessto be ungrateful and betray the person who helped you

Examples

  • ,,忘恩负义。
    Tā céng jīng bāng guò nǐ nà me duō máng, nǐ xiàn zài què zhè yàng duì tā, zhēn shì wàng ēn fù yì.
    He helped you so much before, and now you treat him like this — truly ungrateful and disloyal.
  • 忘恩负义,。
    Yí gè wàng ēn fù yì de rén, shì bú huì yǒu rén yuàn yì zài bāng zhù tā de.
    No one will be willing to help a person who is ungrateful and betrays kindness.
  • ,忘恩负义。
    Zhè ge tú dì xué chéng zhī hòu fǎn ér xiàn hài shī fu, jiǎn zhí shì wàng ēn fù yì.
    After mastering his skills, this apprentice framed his master — utterly ungrateful and treacherous.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

忘恩forget kindness
忘wàngforget恩ēnkindness
动宾Verb + object
负义betray righteousness
负fùbetray义yìrighteousness
动宾Verb + object

忘恩 means forget kindness and 负义 means betray righteousness, together describing ingratitude.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
亡
亡wáng忘wàng
Same sound today

忘 combines 亡, which gives the sound, with 心 (“heart”), showing the sense is about the heart or mind.

Open 忘 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
因
因yīn恩ēn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

恩 puts 因, which gives the sound, beside 心, a heart.

Open 恩 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 負; 负 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 負 combines 人 (person) and 貝 (cowry), with 人 written as ⺈; the simplified 负 is a later abbreviation.

Open 负 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 義; 义 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
我
我wǒ義yì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.

Open 义 →

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