舞弊 (wǔ bì) — to commit fraud, embezzle, or engage in bribery…

Definition

A formal verb meaning 'to commit fraud' — covers cheating, bribery, and financial corruption in exams, elections, or business. Used in legal and official contexts rather than daily speech.

verb

to commit fraudembezzleor engage in briberyto practice corruption

Examples

舞弊，。
Tā zài gōng sī cái wù shàng wǔ bì, bèi kāi chú le.
He committed fraud in the company's finances and was fired.
舞弊。
Xuǎn jǔ zhōng wǔ bì shì wéi fǎ de xíng wéi.
Engaging in fraud during elections is an illegal act.
。
Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài diào chá zhè qǐ wǔ bì àn jiàn.
The government is investigating this case of fraud.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

舞wǔplay with; manipulate

弊bìmalpractice

"舞" suggests playing with or manipulating and "弊" means malpractice, together mean committing fraud.

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

舛舛chuǎnsteps, feet in convergent direction

Sound part声符shēngfú

無

無wú舞wǔ

Same sound today

舞 combines 舛, showing feet in converging steps, with 無 above. 無 gave the sound and also preserved its older meaning of dancing, so the shape points to dancing.

Open 舞 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

敝廾弊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

廾廾gǒngboth hands

Sound part声符shēngfú

敝

敝bì弊bì

Same sound today

弊 adds 廾, both hands, to 敝, which gives the sound and means destroy or tatters, making the idea of destroying something with both hands.

Open 弊 →

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