Frameup

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A deceitful scheme designed to wrongfully implicate an innocent individual in a criminal act constitutes a violation of justice
2. An orchestrated effort to lay blame for a crime on someone innocent exemplifies a serious manipulation of truth and justice
3. A dishonest plot aimed at falsely accusing an innocent person of wrongdoing indicates a profound betrayal of justice

Etymology: "Frameup" is a deverbal noun, formed from the phrasal verb "frame up," meaning the noun was derived from the verb rather than the other way round. The verb sense of "frame up" is the older of the two, and the noun inherits its sense of fabricating evidence or a false story so that an innocent person appears guilty. The underlying image is of building a structure around someone, assembling the parts of a case as a carpenter assembles a frame. Because the noun comes straight from the verb, it follows the same pattern as many other English nouns made from phrasal verbs, such as "breakdown," "cave-in," and "setup," where the particle comes first and the action is condensed into a single noun. The compound-like form reflects that English often packs a verb-plus-adverb into one word when it names an event or result.

Synonyms: setup, plot