恶贯满盈 (è guàn mǎn yíng) — to have committed countless crimes; to be steeped in iniquity

Definition

A literary chengyu meaning a criminal's evils have piled up to the full — i.e. guilty beyond saving. Far stronger than 罪恶深重 and used only for unredeemable offenders in writing or judgment contexts.

idiom
to have committed countless crimesto be steeped in iniquity

Examples

  • 恶贯满盈，。
    Zhè ge zuì fàn è guàn mǎn yíng, zhōng yú bèi pàn chǔ sǐ xíng.
    This criminal, whose evil deeds were countless, was finally sentenced to death.
  • 恶贯满盈，。
    Tā è guàn mǎn yíng, fǎ lǜ jué bú huì kuān shù tā.
    He is steeped in iniquity; the law will never forgive him.
  • 恶贯满盈，。
    Lì shǐ shàng nà xiē è guàn mǎn yíng de bào jūn, zuì zhōng dōu shòu dào le chéng fá.
    Those tyrants in history who had committed countless crimes were eventually punished.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

恶贯
恶èevil贯guànstring
偏正Modifier + head
满盈
满mǎnfull盈yíngoverflow
联合Side by side

A 贯 string of 恶 deeds being 满 and 盈 gives the image of countless crimes.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 惡; 恶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
亞
亞yā惡è
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 惡 pairs 心 (heart) as the meaning part with 亞 (yā) as the sound part; the simplified 恶 is a later shorthand.

Open 恶 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貫; 贯 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 貫 originally showed two shells strung together; the simplified 贯 is a later abbreviation.

Open 贯 →

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 滿; 满 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒼
㒼㒼滿mǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 滿 pairs 水, showing water, with 㒼, giving the sound. The simplified 满 is a later shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 满 →

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

  • 夃夃gǔ
  • 皿皿mǐnvessel

盈 combines 夃 and 皿 (vessel), but the meaning of 夃 is unclear, so the full origin of the shape is uncertain.

Open 盈 →

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