作奸犯科 (zuò jiān fàn kē) — to violate the law and commit crimes (formal, used in legal/journalistic contexts)

Definition

A formal, legalistic idiom meaning to break the law and commit crimes. Used chiefly in legal, journalistic, or official writing — not everyday speech.

idiom
to violate the law and commit crimes (formal, used in legal/journalistic contexts)

Examples

  • 作奸犯科。
    Rèn hé zuò jiān fàn kē de xíng wéi dōu huì shòu dào fǎ lǜ de zhì cái.
    Any act of violating the law and committing crimes will be punished by the law.
  • 作奸犯科，。
    Zhè ge tuán huǒ cháng qī zuò jiān fàn kē, zhōng yú bèi jǐng fāng zhuā huò.
    This gang had been violating the law and committing crimes for a long time and was finally caught by the police.
  • 作奸犯科。
    Zhèng fǔ yán lì dǎ jī zuò jiān fàn kē de fǔ bài fēn zǐ.
    The government severely cracks down on corrupt elements who violate the law and commit crimes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

作奸commit evil
作zuòcommit奸jiānevil
动宾Verb + object
犯科violate the law
犯fànviolate科kēlaw
动宾Verb + object

作奸 is doing evil, and 犯科 is violating the law, so together they describe violating the law and committing 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
干
干gān奸jiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

奸 is written with 女 (woman) on the left and 干 on the right; the evidence says 干 gives the sound and 女 marks the meaning.

Open 奸 →

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
犬犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢎘
𢎘𢎘犯fàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

犯 combines 犬 and 𢎘: 犬 gives the meaning, and 𢎘 gives the sound.

Open 犯 →

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
斗斗dòumeasuring tool
Sound part声符shēngfú
禾
禾hé科kē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

Open 科 →

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