bần khổ
Definitions
- Adjective:
- Poor and miserable; impoverished and suffering: Describes a state of extreme poverty accompanied by hardship, deprivation, and distress. It emphasizes both material lack and the associated suffering.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Gia đình đó sống trong cảnh bần khổ suốt nhiều năm. (That family lived in a state of poverty and misery for many years.)
- Cuộc đời bần khổ khiến ông ấy già đi trông thấy. (A life of poverty and hardship made him age visibly.)
Advanced Usage
- Often used in literary or formal contexts to evoke a strong sense of pity and the severe plight of individuals or communities.
- Can describe not just economic conditions but also a general state of wretchedness and misfortune.
Variants and Related Words
- Bần cùng (adj): Destitute, utterly impoverished. Often used similarly but can sometimes emphasize the extremity of poverty more than the aspect of suffering.
- Khốn khổ (adj): Wretched, distressed. Emphasizes suffering and hardship, which may or may not be solely due to poverty.
- Nghèo khó (adj): Poor, needy. A more general term for poverty without the strong connotation of accompanying misery.
Synonyms
- Nghèo đói: Poor and hungry; impoverished.
- Cùng khốn: Destitute and in dire straits.
Related Idioms
- Bần cùng sinh đạo tặc: Extreme poverty gives rise to theft; necessity is the mother of invention (in a negative sense). This idiom uses "bần cùng," a close variant.
- Khổ cực: Hard and bitter; toilsome and miserable. Shares the element of suffering ("khổ").