The word 作弊 is formed by combining two characters: 作, meaning "to do" or "to make", and 弊, meaning "fraud", "harm", or "abuse". It is a conceptual compound where the first character denotes the action and the second character specifies the negative, deceptive nature of that action. Thus, the term literally and metaphorically conveys the idea of "committing fraud" or "engaging in deceitful practice", specifically in the context of actions like cheating on a test.