Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Poverty-stricken; destitute: Describes a state of extreme poverty and hardship, often involving a severe lack of basic necessities like food, leading to suffering.
   • Impoverished; needy: Refers to being in a condition of great want and deprivation.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Nhiều người dân ở vùng đó vẫn còn đói khổ. (Many people in that region are still poverty-stricken.)
  • Cuộc sống đói khổ đã ám ảnh tuổi thơ của bà. (A destitute life haunted her childhood.)
  • Họ quyên góp để giúp đỡ những gia đình đói khổ. (They donated to help impoverished families.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "đói khổ" is often used in sociological or descriptive contexts to emphasize not just temporary hunger ("đói") but a chronic state of poverty and misery ("khổ").
• It can describe both the condition of individuals and the general state of a community or region.

Variants and Related Words

• Đói (adj): hungry. Refers primarily to the feeling or state of needing food.
  • Tôi đói bụng. (I am hungry.)
• Khổ cực (adj): hard, arduous, full of toil and difficulty. Focuses more on hardship and struggle.
  • Họ đã trải qua một thời khổ cực. (They went through a period of hardship.)
• Nghèo đói (adj): poor and hungry; impoverished. A close synonym combining poverty and hunger.
  • Xóa bỏ tình trạng nghèo đói. (To eradicate poverty.)

Synonyms

• Destitute: Lacking the means of subsistence.
• Impoverished: Reduced to poverty.
• Needy: In a condition of need or want.
• Penniless: Having no money.

Related Idioms

• Đói ăn vụng, túng làm liều: Literally, "hunger leads to stealing, desperation leads to recklessness." Similar to "desperate times call for desperate measures."
  • Hoàn cảnh đói khổ đôi khi khiến người ta phải "đói ăn vụng, túng làm liều". (A poverty-stricken situation sometimes forces people to take desperate measures.)
• Cơm không lành, canh không ngọt: Literally, "the rice isn't wholesome, the soup isn't sweet." Describes a life of hardship and want where nothing is good or sufficient.
  • Cuộc sống đói khổ, cơm không lành canh không ngọt. (A destitute life where nothing is satisfactory.)

1. Proverty-stricken