Definition

1. Verb:
   • To abandon, to forsake, to leave behind: "bỏ mặc" means to deliberately cease caring for, supporting, or paying attention to someone or something, leaving them to their own fate, often in a difficult situation. It implies a conscious decision to neglect a responsibility or duty.
   • To disregard, to ignore: It can also mean to intentionally ignore or pay no heed to someone's plight, needs, or existence.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Người mẹ không thể bỏ mặc đứa con đang khóc. (The mother could not abandon her crying child.)
  • Anh ấy đã bỏ mặc lời khuyên của tất cả mọi người. (He disregarded everyone's advice.)
  • Công ty bỏ mặc những nhân viên cũ sau khi phá sản. (The company forsook its old employees after going bankrupt.)

Advanced Usage

• "bỏ mặc cho": to leave someone/something to (a fate, a situation).
  • Họ bỏ mặc thành phố cho lũ lụt tàn phá. (They abandoned the city to be ravaged by the flood.)
• "bỏ mặc ai đó một mình": to leave someone alone (often in a negative, uncaring sense).
  • Đừng bỏ mặc bà ấy một mình trong bệnh viện. (Don't leave her alone in the hospital.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bỏ rơi (verb): to desert, to leave behind. Often used interchangeably with "bỏ mặc," but can sometimes imply physically leaving a place or person.
  • Anh ta đã bỏ rơi gia đình. (He deserted his family.)
• Mặc kệ (verb): to let be, to ignore (someone's situation). Similar in meaning to "bỏ mặc" but can sound slightly more informal or blunt.
  • Cứ mặc kệ nó đi. (Just ignore him/Let him be.)
• Phó mặc (verb): to entrust to fate, to give up on. Emphasizes relinquishing all control or care.
  • Mọi chuyện giờ đành phó mặc cho số phận. (Everything now must be left to fate.)

Synonyms

• Từ bỏ: to give up on, to renounce.
• Lơ là: to neglect, to be inattentive (less severe than "bỏ mặc").
• Không quan tâm: to not care about.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Bỏ mặc đời: to abandon life/to give up on life (figurative).
  • Sau biến cố, ông ấy như muốn bỏ mặc đời. (After the incident, he seemed to want to give up on life.)

Related Idioms

• Bỏ mặc sống chết: to abandon to life or death; to completely forsake someone in a life-threatening situation.
  • Kẻ thù bỏ mặc sống chết những tù binh. (The enemy abandoned the prisoners to their fate.)
• Mặc ai nấy lo: (idiom) each person must fend for themselves; every man for himself. This conveys a similar sentiment of being left without support.
  • Công ty đóng cửa, mặc ai nấy lo. (The company closed down, so it's every man for himself.)

verb

1. To abandon