无辜

• Pinyin: wú gū
• Hanzi breakdown: 无 = negation (without); 辜 = 古 + 辛 (ancient hardship — guilt, crime) — without guilt or criminal offence

Meaning

Innocent; blameless; guiltless. As a noun: innocent people or bystanders who are wrongly implicated or harmed through no fault of their own.

Central to legal and ethical discourse. As an adjective: 无辜的受害者 (innocent victim), 无辜被牵连 (innocently implicated). As a noun: 殃及无辜 (harm the innocent), 保护无辜 (protect the innocent). Carries a strong moral weight, often appearing in courtroom contexts, news reports of injustice, and ethical arguments.

Examples

1. 法院经过严格审查，最终认定被告无辜，当庭宣告无罪释放并恢复其名誉。 After rigorous review, the court ultimately found the defendant innocent, declared him not guilty in court, released him, and restored his reputation.
2. 这场突如其来的暴力冲突殃及大批无辜居民，造成了严重的人员伤亡和财产损失。 This sudden outbreak of violence harmed a large number of innocent residents, causing serious casualties and property damage.
3. 调查结果显示，遭受株连的数百名员工均属无辜，与公司的违规行为毫无关联。 The investigation showed that the hundreds of employees who were implicated were all innocent and had nothing to do with the company’s violations.

Usage Guide

Context: law, journalism, ethics

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 检察机关在证据不充分的情况下仓促提起诉讼，导致多名无辜公民身陷囹圄，严重损害了司法公信力。(The prosecution rushed to file charges without sufficient evidence, causing multiple innocent citizens to be imprisoned and seriously undermining public confidence in the justice system.)
• 任何文明法治社会都应当将保护无辜免受错误追诉视为司法体系的核心使命，而非可以妥协的次要目标。(Any civilised society governed by the rule of law should regard protecting the innocent from wrongful prosecution as a core mission of the justice system, not a secondary objective that can be compromised.)

Don't Say

• 无辜 interchangeably with 清白 in all contexts — 清白 emphasises moral purity and reputation, while 无辜 specifically means bearing no legal or ethical responsibility for a particular wrongful act

Origin & History

无 (without) + 辜 (guilt/offence) — without guilt; free of wrongdoing

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal