Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Drooping, wilted (for plants): Describes plants, leaves, or flowers that are limp, withered, and lacking vitality, often due to lack of water or extreme heat.
   • Gloomy, dejected, downcast (for people or animals): Describes a person's or animal's appearance, demeanor, or expression as being visibly sad, listless, dispirited, and lacking energy or spirit.

Usage Examples

• For plants:
  • Những cây hoa hồng trông ủ rũ sau đợt nắng nóng. (The rose bushes look wilted after the heatwave.)
• For people/animals:
  • Cậu bé ngồi ủ rũ trong phòng sau khi nghe tin buồn. (The boy sat dejected in his room after hearing the sad news.)
  • Con chó nằm ủ rũ dưới gầm bàn, đôi mắt buồn thiu. (The dog lay listless under the table, its eyes full of sorrow.)

Advanced Usage

• The word "ủ rũ" often implies a visible, physical manifestation of sadness or lack of vitality, not just an internal feeling. It paints a picture of someone or something literally "sagging" under the weight of sorrow or exhaustion.
• It can describe an overall posture or atmosphere, not just a facial expression.
  • Cả căn phòng mang một vẻ ủ rũ và lạnh lẽo. (The whole room had a gloomy and cold atmosphere.)

Variants and Related Words

• Rũ rượi (adj): Extremely limp, exhausted, or bedraggled (often from being wet or tired), sometimes overlapping with the tired aspect of "ủ rũ".
  • Người lính trở về sau trận đánh, quần áo rũ rượi. (The soldier returned from battle, his clothes bedraggled.)

Synonyms

• Wilted, drooping: (for plants).
• Dejected, downcast, gloomy, dispirited, listless, morose: (for people/animals).

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Mặt mày ủ rũ: A common phrase meaning "a gloomy face" or "a downcast expression."
  • Sao hôm nay mặt mày cậu ủ rũ thế? (Why do you look so downcast today?)
• Dáng người ủ rũ: Describes a person's slumped, spiritless posture.
  • Dáng người ủ rũ của anh ấy cho thấy một nỗi thất vọng lớn. (His slumped posture showed great disappointment.)

adj

1. mournful, doleful