衊 (miè) · smeared with blood; defiled (archaic)

Meanings

1 smeared with blood; defiled (archaic)
2 to slander; to smear someone's name (classical)

Characters

衊

miè

defiled with blood; to slander

Examples

HSK 7-9

不要用无端的话污蔑好人。

Búyào yòng wúduān de huà wūmiè hǎorén.

Do not slander an honest person with baseless words.

Tips

history

衊 is not used independently in modern Chinese; its 'to smear / slander' sense survives in 污衊, today usually written with the simpler 污蔑. It combines the blood radical 血 with 蔑, which also supplies the sound.

register

Archaic spelling; the meaning lives on through 蔑 in 污蔑, while 衊 itself appears only in old texts and etymology notes.

Components

radical

血 xuè

blood

The blood radical 血 on the left gives the literal image: defiled with blood, which became the figurative 'to smear someone's reputation'.

phonetic

蔑 miè

to disdain; to slight

Supplies the sound and reinforces the meaning: 蔑 already carries 'to slight, to disdain', so it doubles as both phonetic and a semantic hint of contempt.