Definition

Động từ (Verb): - To be wronged, to suffer an injustice: To be the victim of an unfair accusation, treatment, or situation, often leading to harbored resentment or grievance. - To bear a grievance: To carry a sense of being unjustly treated.

Usage Examples

• Động từ:
  • Anh ấy bị hàm oan và phải ngồi tù mười năm. (He was wronged and had to spend ten years in prison.)
  • Cô ấy cảm thấy mình bị hàm oan khi không ai tin lời giải thích của cô. (She felt she suffered an injustice when no one believed her explanation.)
  • Không gì đau khổ bằng cảm giác bị hàm oan. (Nothing is more painful than the feeling of being wronged.)

Advanced Usage

• "mang hàm oan": to bear/carry a grievance (often implying it is known to others).

  • Ông ấy đã mang hàm oan suốt cả cuộc đời. (He bore this grievance his entire life.)

• "chết hàm oan": to die having been wronged; to die an unjust death.

  • Nhân vật chính trong vở kịch đã chết hàm oan. (The main character in the play died having been wronged.)

Variants and Related Words

• Oan ức (Danh từ - Noun): Injustice, wrongful grievance. This is the nominal form often paired with "hàm".

  • Nỗi oan ức (The grievance/injustice)

• Oan trái (Danh từ - Noun): Often implies a karmic injustice or a deep-seated wrongful feud.

  • Mối oan trái (A wrongful feud)

Synonyms

• Bị oan (động từ): To be wronged. (A very close synonym, often used interchangeably).
• Chịu oan (động từ): To endure/suffer an injustice.
• Bị bức tử (động từ): To be framed/forced into a corner (more specific, often legally).

Related Phrases / Collocations

• Hàm oan chịu ức: To suffer wrongs and endure humiliation (a common four-word idiom expressing deep injustice).
  • Câu chuyện kể về một người phụ nữ hàm oan chịu ức. (The story is about a woman who suffered wrongs and endured humiliation.)

Notes on Meaning

The word "hàm oan" strongly conveys not just the objective fact of being treated unfairly, but also the subjective, internalized feeling of resentment and hurt that results from it. It implies the injustice is swallowed ("hàm" means to contain/hold in the mouth) and held inside, festering. It is more emotionally charged than a simple legal term for a false accusation.

1. Nurture resentment for an injustice suffered