Definition

1. Noun:
   • Accomplice: A person who helps another commit a crime, often by assisting, encouraging, or participating in it, but who is not the principal or mastermind. The term emphasizes a subordinate role in the criminal act.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Hắn bị kết án là tòng phạm trong vụ cướp. (He was convicted as an accomplice in the robbery.)
  • Cảnh sát đang truy nã tên tòng phạm đã bỏ trốn. (The police are hunting for the accomplice who fled.)
  • Với tư cách là tòng phạm, cô ta nhận án nhẹ hơn kẻ chủ mưu. (As an accomplice, she received a lighter sentence than the mastermind.)

Advanced Usage

• "bị xử như tòng phạm": to be tried/treated as an accomplice.

  • Mặc dù chỉ lái xe, anh ta vẫn bị xử như tòng phạm. (Even though he only drove the car, he was still tried as an accomplice.)

• "tội tòng phạm": the crime of being an accomplice; complicity.

  • Luật sư biện hộ rằng bị cáo không phạm tội tòng phạm. (The lawyer argued that the defendant was not guilty of complicity.)

Variants and Related Words

• Đồng phạm (noun): Co-perpetrator; a more general term for someone involved in a crime, which can include principals and accomplices. It often implies shared criminal intent.

  • Nhóm đồng phạm gồm năm người. (The group of co-perpetrators consists of five people.)

• Kẻ chủ mưu (noun): Mastermind; ringleader. This is the principal offender, contrasted with "tòng phạm".

  • Kẻ chủ mưu vẫn chưa bị bắt. (The mastermind is still at large.)

Synonyms

• Người tiếp tay: Aider; abettor. Someone who provides help or assistance in a crime.
• Kẻ đồng lõa: Accomplice; confederate. Very close in meaning to "tòng phạm".

Related Phrases

• Phạm tội có tổ chức: To commit organized crime. A "tòng phạm" is often part of such a structure.
  • Băng nhóm này chuyên phạm tội có tổ chức. (This gang specializes in organized crime.)

Related Idioms

• "Chính phạm chưa ra, tòng phạm đã vào": (Lit: The principal offender hasn't come out, the accomplice has already gone in). Used to describe a situation where a subordinate or less important person is caught or punished first, while the main culprit remains free. It highlights the injustice or irony of the situation.
  • Thật là "chính phạm chưa ra, tòng phạm đã vào". (It's truly a case of the accomplice being caught before the mastermind.)

noun

1. accomplice