Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Cloyingly rich / excessively fatty: Describes food, especially fatty meat or oily dishes, that is so rich in fat or oil that it causes a feeling of disgust or satiety after a few bites. It implies an unpleasant, overwhelming richness.
   • Sickeningly rich: Conveys a sense that the richness is excessive to the point of being unappetizing or hard to enjoy.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Thịt kho này ăn béo ngấy quá. (This braised pork is cloyingly rich.)
  • Món ăn có nhiều bơ khiến tôi thấy béo ngấy. (The dish with a lot of butter made me feel it was sickeningly rich.)
  • Phô mai đó béo ngấy, không thể ăn nhiều. (That cheese is too rich; you can't eat much of it.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in comparative or descriptive critiques of food to indicate a negative sensory experience related to excessive fat content, distinguishing it from simply being "béo" (fatty/rich), which can be positive.

Variants and Related Words

• Béo (adj): Fatty, rich, oily. Can be neutral or positive.
  • Bánh ngọt này béo vừa phải. (This cake is suitably rich.)
• Ngấy (adj): Often used alone to describe the sickening feeling from overly rich or greasy food.
  • Ăn đồ chiên rán nhiều dễ thấy ngấy. (Eating a lot of fried food easily makes you feel greasy-sick.)

Synonyms

• Cloying: Excessively sweet or rich to the point of disgust.
• Greasy: Unpleasantly coated with or full of fat or oil.
• Sickeningly rich: So rich it causes a feeling of slight nausea.

Related Idioms

• Béo ngậy: A very similar term, often used interchangeably with "béo ngấy," describing food that is richly fatty and creamy, sometimes with a more positive connotation of delicious richness, but can also imply excess.
  • Kem sầu riêng béo ngậy. (The durian ice cream is richly creamy.)