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诬蔑 (wū miè) — to slander, to defame, to calumniate

Definition

A formal, written verb meaning to slander or defame someone with false accusations. Stronger and more literary than 诽谤, which is the everyday legal/news term for defamation.

verb
to slanderto defameto calumniate

Examples

  • 诬蔑。
    Tā wū miè wǒ tōu le tā de qián.
    He slandered me by saying I stole his money.
  • 诬蔑。
    Zhè zhǒng wū miè bié rén de xíng wéi shì bú dào dé de.
    This kind of behavior of slandering others is immoral.
  • 诬蔑。
    Wǒ men bù néng róng rěn rèn hé wū miè hé fěi bàng.
    We cannot tolerate any slander and defamation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

诬wūslander
蔑mièslander

诬 and 蔑 both carry a sense of slander, together meaning to defame.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 誣; 诬 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
巫
巫wū誣wū
Same sound today

The traditional form 誣 pairs 言 (speech) with 巫 as a sound part; the simplified 诬 is a later shorthand.

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

  • 𦰋𦰋𦰋person
  • 戈戈gēdagger-axe

蔑 combines 𦰋, a person, with 戈, a dagger-axe, to picture a weapon striking a person's lower leg, meaning to obliterate.

Open 蔑 →
Appears in
Conflict & AgreementLaw & Justice

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