Definition

1. Noun:

   • Marble: A small, hard, spherical ball, typically made of glass, clay, or agate, used as a toy by children in games.
   • Ball bearing: A precision-engineered metal ball used in machinery to reduce friction between moving parts in a rotating assembly.
   • Sugar-plum (archaic): A small round piece of candy; a sweet.

2. Adjective:

   • Tragic; Pathetic: Describing something that evokes pity, sorrow, or a sense of melancholy. It often conveys a pessimistic or bleak outlook.
   • Desperate: Describing a situation that is extremely serious or hopeless.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Trẻ con chơi đánh bi. (Children play marbles.)
  • Ổ bi xe đạp bị hỏng. (The bicycle's ball bearing is broken.)
  • Mẹ mua cho tôi một gói kẹo bi. (My mother bought me a pack of sugar-plums.)

• Adjective:

  • Anh ấy có cái nhìn về cuộc đời rất bi. (He has a very tragic view of life.)
  • Tình cảnh của những người tị nạn thật bi. (The situation of the refugees is truly desperate/pathetic.)

Advanced Usage

• The adjective "bi" is often used in literary or formal contexts to describe art, drama, or philosophy that has a somber, melancholic, or pessimistic tone.
  • Vở kịch mang một sắc thái vừa bi vừa hài. (The play has a tone that is both tragic and comedic.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bi-a (n): Billiards, pool. The balls used in this game are also called "bi".

  • Anh ấy đặt bi lên bàn bi-a. (He places the balls on the billiard table.)

• Bi quan (adj): Pessimistic. This is a more common and specific term for a pessimistic outlook, from which the shortened form "bi" (as an adjective) is derived.

  • Đừng nên bi quan về tương lai. (You shouldn't be pessimistic about the future.)

Synonyms

• Noun: Sphere, ball, marble.
• Adjective: Melancholy, sorrowful, gloomy, bleak, hopeless, pitiful.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Nhìn đời (một cách) bi quan: To view life pessimistically. This phrase is more standard than using "bi" alone.

  • Sau thất bại, anh ta nhìn đời một cách bi quan. (After the failure, he views life pessimistically.)

• Cảnh bi đát: A tragic/dire situation.

  • Trận động đất để lại một cảnh bi đát. (The earthquake left a tragic scene.)

noun

1. Marble
   • trẻ con đánh bi
     children played marbles
2. Ball
   • ổ bi
     a ball-bearing
   • kẹo bi
     sugar-plums

adj

1. Tragic
   • nhìn đời bi lắm
     to have a very tragic view of life
   • tình cảnh rất bi
     the situation is very tragic