妨害

• Pinyin: fáng hài
• Hanzi breakdown: 妨 = 女 + 方 (archaic: irregular conduct causing harm — obstruction); 害 = 宀 + 丰 + 口 (abundance under a roof that a mouth corrupts — harm from within)

Meaning

To impair; to harm; to damage. To cause harm or damage to rights, health, public order, or social interests, with strong legal implications.

More serious in register than 妨碍 and typically implies harm rather than mere inconvenience. Frequently appears in criminal and administrative law: 妨害公务 (obstruction of official duties), 妨害社会秩序 (disturbing public order), 妨害他人权益 (impairing others' rights and interests).

Examples

1. 被告被指控以散布虚假信息的方式妨害市场秩序，给多家企业的商业声誉和正常经营活动造成了不可挽回的损失。 The defendant is accused of disrupting market order by spreading false information, causing irreparable damage to the business reputations and normal operations of multiple companies.
2. 法庭认定，该工厂长期排放超标废水的行为妨害了周边村庄居民的生活用水权利，需依法赔偿全部经济损失及精神损害。 The court found that the factory’s long-term discharge of wastewater above legal limits infringed on nearby villagers’ right to domestic water and must compensate them in full for economic losses as well as emotional distress damages.
3. 刑法中明确规定，以暴力或威胁手段妨害国家工作人员依法执行职务的，将被以妨害公务罪追究刑事责任。 The criminal law clearly stipulates that anyone who, through violence or threats, obstructs state personnel from lawfully performing their duties will be held criminally liable for the offense of obstructing official duties.

Usage Guide

Context: law, criminal-law, public-order, rights

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 检察院以妨害司法公正罪对三名涉案人员提起公诉，指控其在调查期间销毁证据、串通证人，严重妨害了正常的司法程序。(The procuratorate prosecuted three persons on charges of obstructing justice, accusing them of destroying evidence and colluding with witnesses during the investigation, seriously impairing normal judicial proceedings.)
• 该企业向河流排放大量未经处理的工业废水，被认定为妨害公共环境权益的违法行为，依法被处以五百万元罚款并责令停产整顿。(The enterprise was found guilty of impairing public environmental rights by discharging large quantities of untreated industrial wastewater into the river, and was fined five million yuan and ordered to suspend production for rectification.)

Don't Say

• 妨害 in everyday conversation for minor annoyances — 妨害 carries legal and serious connotations; for everyday obstruction say 打扰 (disturb) or 影响 (affect) instead

Origin & History

妨 (to obstruct/harm) + 害 (to harm/damage) — combined to mean deliberately impairing something of value

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal