Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To become deeply rooted or ingrained: Refers to an idea, habit, feeling, or mistake becoming firmly established and difficult to remove.
   • To penetrate deeply / to embed itself: Describes a physical object, like a splinter or shell, sinking or lodging itself deep into another material.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Thói quen xấu đó đã ăn sâu vào nếp nghĩ của anh ấy. (That bad habit has become deeply ingrained in his way of thinking.)
  • Mảnh vỡ thủy tinh ăn sâu vào da. (The piece of glass penetrated deep into the skin.)
  • Tư tưởng ấy ăn sâu trong văn hóa từ nhiều đời. (That ideology is deeply rooted in the culture for many generations.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used figuratively to describe psychological, cultural, or social phenomena that are profoundly established.
  • Nỗi sợ hãi từ thời thơ ấu đã ăn sâu, khó mà xóa bỏ. (The fear from childhood is deeply ingrained and hard to erase.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ăn sâu bám rễ (verb phrase): to take root and become entrenched; an emphatic form of "ăn sâu."
  • Tập quán lạc hậu đã ăn sâu bám rễ ở ngôi làng này. (The backward custom has taken deep root in this village.)

Synonyms

• To be ingrained: to be firmly fixed or established.
• To be entrenched: to be established so firmly that change is difficult.
• To embed: to fix something deeply and firmly in a surrounding mass.

Related Idioms

• Ăn sâu vào máu / vào xương tủy: to be in one's blood/bones; to be an inseparable, fundamental part of someone.
  • Tình yêu âm nhạc đã ăn sâu vào máu của ông ấy. (The love for music is in his blood.)