畏罪 (wèi zuì) — to fear punishment for one's crime | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A formal/legal term: to fear being punished for one's crime, often driving surrender, confession, or escape. Far more formal than everyday ways of saying 'afraid of punishment' and is typically used in news, court, or police contexts.

verb

to fear punishment for one's crime

Examples

。
Xián yí rén yīn wèi le zuì ér xuǎn zé zì shǒu.
The suspect chose to surrender because he feared punishment for his crime.
。
Tā zài wèi zuì hòu zhǔ dòng chéng rèn le cuò wù.
After fearing punishment for his crime, he voluntarily admitted his mistake.
。
Zuì zhōng tā xuǎn zé le wèi zuì zì shā.
In the end, he chose to commit suicide out of fear of punishment for his crime.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

畏 means fear and 罪 means crime; together they describe fearing punishment for a crime.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

鬼

鬼guǐ畏wèi

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early form of 畏 drew a ghost 鬼 holding a stick. Later, 卜 was used as the meaning part and 鬼 as the sound part.

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

罒非罪

罒网wǎngnet
非非fēimistake

罪 puts 罒 (a net, written fully as 网) over 非 (mistake).

Appears in

Crime & Police Emotions & Feelings

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.