đốc chứng

Thân thiện

Ông cụ gần đây hay đốc chứng, khó chiều lắm.

Definition

1. Intransitive Verb:
   • To become irritable, to become more stubborn or difficult in temperament: Describes a negative change in a person's or animal's character, often involving increased irritability, restlessness, or obstinacy.
   • To become senile, to show signs of mental deterioration (archaic/regional usage): An older, less common meaning referring to a decline in mental faculties, particularly in the elderly.

Usage Examples

• Intransitive Verb:
  • Người già hay đốc chứng. (Old people often become more irritable.)
  • Con ngựa đốc chứng. (The horse is growing restive.)
  • Bà cụ gần đây có vẻ đốc chứng hơn. (The old lady seems to have become more difficult lately.)

Advanced Usage Notes

• The word đốc chứng is considered somewhat archaic or regional in modern Vietnamese. It is primarily used to describe a worsening of temperament, not a physical illness.
• It often carries a nuance of the behavior being a persistent trait or state, not a temporary mood.

Variants and Related Words

• Cáu kỉnh (adj): Irritable, grumpy. (A more common synonym for the resulting state.)
• Khó tính (adj): Hard to please, difficult. (Describes a demanding character.)
• Lẩm cẩm (adj): Senile, doting. (Specifically refers to age-related mental decline.)

Synonyms

• Trở nên cáu kỉnh: To become irritable.
• Trở nên khó tính: To become difficult.
• Gắt gỏng (adj): Irritable, snappish.

Notes on Meaning

• The core meaning focuses on a negative change in character or behavior towards being more uncooperative, stubborn, or easily agitated.
• The reference to senility ("devenir gâteux") is an older, secondary meaning. In contemporary understanding, the primary sense relates to temperament, not necessarily cognitive decline.

Học thuật

1. Grow restive, grow worse in the character
   • Người già hay đốc chứng
     Old people often grow worse in the character
   • Con ngựa đốc chứng
     A horse which grows restive