Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
frame-up

frame-up

3 8.7
An act of falsely accusing someone by making fake evidence against them
  • noun
  • /ˈfreɪmˌʌp/
  • Informal
translation icon : montaje
  • After reviewing the case, the lawyer concluded that it was a well-planned frame-up to hide the truth.

But so the FBI at that time, I believe was complicit in in this frame up because they might have known that these guys were lying.

Examples

  • It was a frame-up.

    Champion (1949)

  • The defense argued that the evidence was a clear frame-up meant to incriminate their client.

  • Witnesses testified that the police fabricated the evidence, resulting in a frame-up of the innocent suspect.

Synonyms

setup
vsframe-up
87 6.8

An act of tricking someone so they are blamed for a crime they did not commit

focuses on creating false evidence or charges to prove guilt

How Serious

frame-up
  • Informal
3 8.7
to set up
146 6.2
accusation
394 3.1
allegation
  • Literature
579 4.8

Surface Forms

frame-up singular
frame-ups plural

Morphology

frame-up = frame + up (opaque) = frame + up

Although the word is built from the phrasal verb 'frame up', the sense 'falsely incriminate' is idiomatic and not predictable from the component meanings alone.

Etymology

Frame-up comes from the common word frame, which can mean 'to make or build'. A helpful image is a picture frame: to 'frame' someone is to build a false case or plant fake evidence to make them look guilty, so a frame-up is an accusation made on purpose and not true.