Definition

Verb: 1. To impeach; to formally accuse (an official) of wrongdoing: This is the primary and most specific meaning. It refers to the formal act of bringing charges against a corrupt or incompetent official, typically within a historical or bureaucratic context. 2. To censure; to criticize severely and formally: A broader meaning, referring to a strong, official, or public rebuke or condemnation of someone's actions or behavior.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Các quan thanh liêm thường dũng cảm hặc tội những kẻ tham nhũng. (Upright officials often courageously impeached corrupt individuals.)
  • Vị ngự sử đã hặc tấu lên vua về hành vi lạm quyền của viên quan địa phương. (The censor presented an impeachment memorial to the king regarding the local official's abuse of power.)
  • Bài báo hặc thẳng thừng chính sách mới của chính phủ. (The article censured the government's new policy outright.)

Advanced Usage

• Hặc tội: This is the most common collocation, meaning "to impeach (someone) for a crime/offense" or "to bring charges against."
  • Sử sách ghi lại việc ông ấy bị hặc tội tham ô. (Historical records note that he was impeached for embezzlement.)
• Hặc tấu: A historical term meaning "to submit an impeachment memorial (to the emperor/king)."
  • Đây là bản hặc tấu của quan ngự sử. (This is the impeachment memorial from the censor.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hạch (verb, old usage): An older or variant form with the same meaning as (to impeach, to interrogate). It is now considered archaic or used in specific fixed phrases.
• Hặc tội (compound noun/phrase): The act of impeachment; an impeachment charge.
• Hặc tấu (compound noun/phrase): An impeachment memorial (a historical document).

Synonyms

• Kết tội (verb): To convict, to find guilty. (Focuses on the judgment, while focuses on the formal accusation.)
• Khiển trách (verb): To reprimand, to admonish. (Less severe and formal than ; often for minor faults.)
• Chỉ trích (verb): To criticize. (A general term, not necessarily formal or official like .)
• Tố cáo (verb): To denounce, to accuse. (Can be used in both legal and general contexts, broader than the official connotation of .)

Notes on Usage

• Register: The word hặc is formal, literary, and carries a strong historical or bureaucratic connotation. It is rarely used in modern everyday conversation.
• Context: It is almost exclusively used in contexts related to law, governance, history, or formal criticism of authority. Using it in casual contexts would sound unnatural and overly formal.

verb

1. to criticize; to find fault with