无兄盗嫂 — “To spread groundless slander or false accusations”

无兄盗嫂 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to spread groundless slander or false accusations”. To make up defamatory stories out of thin air. Literally, “no brother, stole sister-in-law”.

Frequency

无兄盗嫂 Pronunciation and Pinyin

无兄盗嫂 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
无	wú	4	without, not having
兄	xiōng	5	older brother
盗	dào	11	steal or a thief
嫂	sǎo	12	older brother's wife

Example Sentence with 无兄盗嫂

他被竞争对手无兄盗嫂，散布了他挪用公款的谣言，实际上这完全是子虚乌有。

He was subjected to groundless slander by his competitor, who spread rumors that he embezzled public funds, which was actually completely fabricated.

Origin and Story of 无兄盗嫂

During the Han Dynasty, there lived a handsome man named Zhi Buyi.

After his elder brother passed away from illness, Zhi Buyi lived with his sister-in-law.

This arrangement unfortunately attracted the gossip of busybodies, who maliciously claimed he was having an affair with his sister-in-law.

Zhi Buyi, hearing these groundless rumors, found it impossible to defend himself or clarify the situation, so he simply chose to ignore them.

However, people misinterpreted his silence as an admission of guilt, and from then on, the anecdote of 'wú xiōng dào sǎo' (no brother, stole sister-in-law), referring to fabricated slander, began to circulate.