Definition

1. Verb:
   • To be content with one's lot: To accept and feel satisfied with one's current social position, circumstances, or fate, without striving for more or better.
   • To be resigned to one's situation: To adopt a passive or accepting attitude towards one's life as it is, often implying a lack of ambition or desire for change.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Ông ấy chọn cách sống an phận. (He chooses to live a life content with his lot.)
  • Cô ấy an phận với công việc nhỏ của mình. (She is resigned to her modest job.)
  • Tư tưởng an phận có thể ngăn cản sự phát triển. (A mindset of being content with one's lot can hinder development.)

Advanced Usage

• "an phận thủ thường": A four-word idiom meaning to be content with one's lot and keep to the old ways; to accept one's situation and not seek change.
  • Cha tôi là người an phận thủ thường, không thích mạo hiểm. (My father is a person who is content with his lot and keeps to the old ways, disliking adventure.)

Variants and Related Words

• Sống an phận (verb phrase): to live a life of contentment; to live without ambition for more.
  • Họ sống an phận ở nông thôn. (They live a contented life in the countryside.)

Synonyms

• To be content: To be in a state of peaceful happiness or satisfaction.
• To be resigned: To accept something undesirable as inevitable.
• To accept one's lot: To acquiesce to one's situation or fate.

Related Idioms

• An bần lạc đạo: To find happiness and contentment even in poverty; to be happy though poor.
  • Dù nghèo nhưng họ an bần lạc đạo. (Though poor, they find happiness in their simple way of life.)

verb

1. To feel smug
   • tư tưởng an phận
     Smugness, smug feeling
   • an phận thủ thường
     to feel smug about one's present circumstances