Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Weak, feeble, or lacking strength: Describes a state of being physically weak, lacking vitality, or having little energy. Often used to describe a person's physical condition or the quality of something.
   • Sickly, ailing: Can describe someone who is unwell, frail, or in poor health.
   • Flabby, soft, or lacking firmness: Can describe something physically soft, limp, or lacking tension or structure.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau trận ốm, anh ấy trông rất èo à éo ẹt. (After the illness, he looks very weak and feeble.)
  • Cái dây thừng này èo à éo ẹt quá, không thể buộc chặt được. (This rope is too flabby/limp; it can't be tied tightly.)
  • Giọng nói của cô ấy nghe èo à éo ẹt, không có chút sức lực nào. (Her voice sounds feeble and lacking in energy.)

Advanced Usage

• This word is a láy (reduplicative) form, specifically a variant of the base form "éo ẹt". Reduplicative words in Vietnamese often intensify the meaning or add a descriptive, sometimes expressive or onomatopoeic, quality. "Èo à éo ẹt" carries a stronger descriptive sense of feebleness or limpness than the simpler "éo ẹt".

Variants and Related Words

• Éo ẹt (láy): The base reduplicative form meaning weak, feeble, or flabby.
  • Đứa trẻ mới ốm dậy nên vẫn còn éo ẹt. (The child just recovered from sickness so is still feeble.)
• Èo uột (láy): Another reduplicative word with a similar meaning of being weak, thin, or spindly.
  • Cây non mới trồng trông còn èo uột. (The newly planted sapling looks still spindly.)

Synonyms

• Yếu ớt: Weak, frail.
• Ốm yếu: Sickly, in poor health.
• Mềm oặt: Limp, flaccid.

Notes on Meaning

• The primary meaning revolves around physical weakness or lack of vigor. It is not typically used for emotional or intellectual weakness.
• It often carries a slightly negative or pitiful connotation, describing an undesirable state of being.
• As a láy word, its usage is more common in descriptive, often spoken or literary, contexts rather than formal writing.

1. xem éo ẹt (láy)