zuì
noun HSK 6 #1,085

Meanings

  1. 1 crime; offense; sin
  2. 2 guilt; blame; fault

Examples

HSK 1
Zhè bú shì nǐ de zuì.
This is not your fault.
HSK 5
Tā rènzuì le.
He pleaded guilty.
HSK 6
Tā fàn le shénme zuì?
What crime did he commit?

Tips

usage
Key compounds: 犯罪 (fàn zuì, to commit a crime), 有罪 (yǒu zuì, guilty), 无罪 (wú zuì, innocent/not guilty), 认罪 (rèn zuì, to plead guilty), 赎罪 (shú zuì, to atone).
memory
(net) on top + (wrong) on bottom - caught in a net for doing wrong.

Components

radical
wǎng
net (radical)
Top radical - a hunting net seen from above, the flat side-form of . Indexes as something caught in a net: criminals, faults, snared wrongdoing. Same net anchors the -family of capture and judgement: (punish), (place), (office), (catch in a net).
semantic
fēi
not; wrong (semantic)
Bottom - two wings turned away from each other, the picture of 'not, contrary, wrong'. Combined with the net above, reads as 'caught in the net of doing wrong'. Qin Shi Huang reportedly mandated this form as a taboo replacement for the older , which resembled his self-reference too closely; the swap stuck.

Stroke Order

zuì