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诬告 (wū gào) — to falsely accuse; to frame (someone) with fabricated evidence

Definition

A formal/legal verb meaning 'to frame someone' by fabricating evidence against them, often used in the passive 被诬告 ('to be falsely accused'). It implies deliberate malicious intent, not just an honest mistake.

verb
to falsely accuseto frame (someone) with fabricated evidence

Examples

  • 诬告。
    Tā yīn wèi bèi wū gào ér méng shòu le shí nián yuān yù.
    He suffered ten years of wrongful imprisonment because he was framed.
  • 诬告。
    Fǎ lǜ yán lì chéng fá wū gào xíng wéi.
    The law severely punishes acts of false accusation.
  • 诬告，。
    Tā bèi rén wū gào, dàn zuì zhōng chá míng le zhēn xiàng.
    She was falsely accused by someone, but the truth was finally uncovered.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

诬wūfalse
告gàoaccuse

“诬” gives the false sense, “告” the accusing action, together meaning to accuse someone falsely.

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 誣; 诬 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
巫
巫wū誣wū
Same sound today

The traditional form 誣 pairs 言 (speech) with 巫 as a sound part; the simplified 诬 is a later shorthand.

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

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Open 告 →
Appears in
Crime & PoliceLaw & Justice

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