污辱 (wūrǔ): to humiliate

Meanings

1 to humiliate
2 to insult
3 to tarnish
4 to sully

Characters

污

wū

dirty / to defile / to contaminate

辱

rǔ

to insult / to shame / disgrace

Examples

他的行为污辱了整个家族的名誉。

Tā de xíngwéi wūrǔ le zhěnggè jiāzú de míngyù.

His behavior tarnished the reputation of the entire family.

任何形式的言语污辱都是不可接受的。

Rènhé xíngshì de yányǔ wūrǔ dōu shì bùkě jiēshòu de.

Verbal insults of any kind are unacceptable.

Tips

usage

污辱 and 侮辱 (wǔrǔ) are near-synonyms. 侮辱 is more commonly used for deliberate personal insult or humiliation, while 污辱 (literally 'to defile / sully') emphasizes tainting someone's reputation or dignity. In practice, many speakers use both interchangeably.