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莫须有 (mò xū yǒu) — groundless, fabricated (usually of accusations or excuses)

Definition

A literary, fixed phrase meaning 'baseless / made-up', used almost entirely for accusations, charges, or excuses that have no real evidence.

adjective
groundlessfabricated (usually of accusations or excuses)

Examples

  • 莫须有。
    Tā yīn wèi mò xū yǒu de zuì míng bèi pàn le xíng.
    He was sentenced for fabricated charges.
  • 莫须有。
    Bú yào yòng mò xū yǒu de lǐ yóu lái tuī tuō zé rèn.
    Don't use groundless reasons to evade responsibility.
  • 莫须有。
    Zhè cì chōng tū wán quán shì jī yú mò xū yǒu de huái yí.
    This conflict is based entirely on groundless suspicion.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 莫 shows a sun sinking into bushes, meaning dusk.

Open 莫 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 須; 须 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 须 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (必须) it is 須; in others it is 鬚.

  • 彡彡shānhair
  • 頁頁yèhead

The traditional form 須 shows 頁 (head) with 彡 (hair) beside it, drawing a head with hair on the side, a picture of a beard or whiskers.

Open 须 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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