Definition

1. Verb:
   • To accuse falsely; to frame; to wrongfully blame: The act of making a false accusation against someone, causing them to be wronged or to suffer an injustice. It implies attributing a fault, crime, or wrongdoing to an innocent person.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ta bị vu oan là đã ăn cắp tiền. (He was falsely accused of stealing the money.)
  • Đừng vu oan cho người khác khi không có bằng chứng. (Don't falsely accuse others without evidence.)
  • Nhiều người trong lịch sử đã chịu cảnh tù đày vì bị vu oan. (Many people in history suffered imprisonment because they were framed.)

Advanced Usage

• "vu oan giá họa" / "vu oan giá hoạ": This is a common four-word idiom meaning to falsely accuse someone and thereby bring misfortune or disaster upon them. It emphasizes the severe consequences of the false accusation.
  • Âm mưu vu oan giá họa của hắn đã bị bại lộ. (His plot to frame and bring disaster [upon someone] was exposed.)

Variants and Related Words

• Vu khống (verb): To slander; to defame. This is a close synonym but can be broader, involving spreading false statements to damage reputation, not necessarily a formal accusation.
• Bịa đặt (verb): To fabricate; to make up (a story, charges). This focuses on the invention of the false information.
• Cáo buộc sai (verb phrase): A more formal translation for "to accuse falsely."

Synonyms

• To frame: To produce false evidence to make someone appear guilty.
• To wrongfully blame: To assign blame to someone without justification.
• To falsely charge: To bring formal accusations that are untrue.

Related Phrases

• Chịu oan (verb phrase): To suffer an injustice; to be wronged.
  • Người vô tội ấy đã chịu oan nhiều năm. (That innocent person suffered injustice for many years.)
• Bào chữa cho người bị oan (verb phrase): To defend someone who has been wronged/falsely accused.

Related Idioms

• Oan gia ngõ hẹp: Literally "enemies meet on a narrow path." It can describe a situation where someone who has wronged you (e.g., by falsely accusing you) is unavoidably encountered.
• Mang tiếng oan: To bear a wrongful reputation; to be unjustly stigmatized.
  • Cô ấy đã mang tiếng oan suốt đời vì lời vu khống đó. (She bore a wrongful reputation her whole life because of that slander.)

verb

1. to accuse falsely