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错怪 (cuò guài) — to blame someone wrongly; to wrongly accuse

Definition

错怪 means blaming someone for something they did not do — the focus is on the mistake of accusing, not on accusing in general. Often used in apologies after realizing one was wrong.

verb
to blame someone wronglyto wrongly accuse

Examples

  • 错怪，。
    Nǐ cuò guài tā le, tā qí shí méi zuò nà jiàn shì.
    You blamed him wrongly; he actually didn't do that.
  • 错怪，。
    Wǒ cuò guài le nǐ, zhēn duì bu qǐ.
    I wrongly blamed you; I'm really sorry.
  • 错怪，。
    Tā cuò guài le fú wù yuán, hòu lái fā xiàn shì wù huì.
    She wrongly blamed the waiter, and later found out it was a misunderstanding.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

错cuòwrongly
怪guàiblame

错 wrongly and 怪 blame combine to mean blaming someone in a wrong way.

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 錯; 错 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
昔
昔xī錯cuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 錯 pairs 金 (metal) with 昔 as a sound part; the simplified 错 is a later abbreviation.

Open 错 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
圣
圣shèng怪guài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

怪 is built from 忄, a form of 心, which relates to mind or feeling, and 圣, which gives the sound.

Open 怪 →
Appears in
Conflict & Agreement

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