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冤枉 (yuān wang) — (verb) to accuse wrongly, to treat unjustly; (adjective) wronged; (of an action, expenditure) not worthwhile; regrettable

Definition

冤枉 has two distinct senses: 'to wrong / accuse falsely' (verb), and 'a waste / not worthwhile' (adjective, like 划不来) about a pointless effort. The 'not worthwhile' sense is stronger than 可惜, which just says 'what a pity'.

verb
to accuse wronglyto treat unjustly
adjective
wronged(of an action, expenditure) not worthwhileregrettable

Examples

  • 冤枉，。
    Nǐ yuān wang wǒ le, wǒ gēn běn méi shuō guò nà yàng de huà.
    You're wronging me — I never said anything like that.
  • 冤枉，。
    Tā jué de zì jǐ bèi yuān wang le, yì zhí hěn wěi qu.
    She feels she has been wronged and has been very upset.
  • ，，冤枉。
    Pái le liǎng gè xiǎo shí de duì, jié guǒ méi mǎi dào, zhēn yuān wang.
    I lined up for two hours and ended up not buying anything — what a waste.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

冤yuāninjustice
枉wǎngcrookedness

冤 “injustice” and 枉 “crookedness” combine to mean treating someone unjustly.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 冤 is built from two parts: 冖, a cover, and 兔, a rabbit.

Open 冤 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 枉 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Law & Justice

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