Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To clear someone's name / to redress a wrong: The primary meaning of "tẩy oan" is to officially prove that someone is innocent of a false accusation or a crime they did not commit, thereby restoring their reputation.
   • To exonerate: To free someone from blame or guilt, often through a formal or public act.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Bằng chứng mới đã giúp tẩy oan cho người tù. (The new evidence helped clear the prisoner's name.)
  • Gia đình nạn nhân đấu tranh nhiều năm để tẩy oan cho ông ấy. (The victim's family fought for many years to exonerate him.)
  • Tòa án đã có phán quyết tẩy oan cho bị cáo. (The court issued a ruling to redress the wrong against the defendant.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies a struggle against an established injustice or a wrongful conviction. It is used in legal, social, and historical contexts.
• It can be applied to posthumous exoneration.

Variants and Related Words

• Giải oan (verb phrase): A very close synonym, also meaning to clear someone's name or resolve a grievance.
  • Họ tổ chức buổi lễ để giải oan cho những người bị hàm oan. (They held a ceremony to clear the names of those who were wrongly accused.)

Synonyms

• Exonerate: To absolve from blame.
• Vindicate: To clear from accusation, blame, or suspicion with supporting proof.
• Acquit: To declare not guilty in a legal trial.
• Rehabilitate: To restore someone's reputation or good name.

Related Idioms

• While "tẩy oan" itself is a set phrase, it is conceptually related to:
  • Rửa oan ức: To wash away grievances/injustice.

    • Ông ấy mong muốn rửa oan ức cho cả dòng họ. (He wished to wash away the injustice suffered by his entire lineage.)