冤狱

冤獄
yuānyù
noun #46,557

Meanings

  1. 1 unjust imprisonment
  2. 2 miscarriage of justice
  3. 3 frame-up

Examples

HSK 1
Tā zuò le èrshí nián yuānyù.
He served twenty years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
HSK 7-9
Zhè wèi lǎorén méngshòu le duō nián yuānyù, zuìjìn zhōngyú dédào píngfǎn.
The old man suffered years of wrongful imprisonment and has recently been cleared at last.

Tips

usage
冤 "wronged" + 狱 "prison". 冤狱 is the time served, 冤案 the unjust case behind it. Typical verbs are 坐 (to serve), 蒙受 (to suffer) and 平反 (to overturn and clear the name).

Stroke Order

冤 yuān
狱 yù