Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To vanish without a trace; to disappear completely: The primary meaning describes a person or thing disappearing so thoroughly that no information, contact, or sign of them remains. It implies a sudden and total absence.
   • To be incommunicado; to be out of contact without sending any news: Specifically refers to a person who has stopped all communication, leaving others with no updates about their whereabouts or well-being.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Sau trận bão, chiếc thuyền đánh cá bặt tăm. (After the storm, the fishing boat vanished without a trace.)
  • Con trai tôi đi du học rồi bặt tăm mấy tháng nay. (My son went abroad to study and has been out of contact for several months.)
  • Anh ấy hứa sẽ gọi lại nhưng sau đó bặt tăm luôn. (He promised to call back but then disappeared completely.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often carries a connotation of worry, mystery, or abandonment, as the disappearance breaks an expected line of communication.
• It can be used figuratively for non-physical things, like hopes or sounds, to emphasize their complete cessation.
  • Mọi hy vọng đột nhiên bặt tăm. (All hope suddenly vanished.)

Variants and Related Words

• Biệt tâm (verb phrase): A direct synonym, also meaning to disappear without a trace.
• Bặt vô âm tín (idiomatic phrase): A more formal/literary variant meaning "to cease all news and letters," emphasizing the lack of communication.

Synonyms

• To disappear completely
• To vanish without a trace
• To drop off the radar (idiomatic)
• To be incommunicado

Related Idioms

• Bặt vô âm tín: To be completely silent, without any news or letters.
  • Nó đi nước ngoài đã lâu và bặt vô âm tín. (He went abroad a long time ago and we have heard absolutely nothing from him.)
• Biệt tích: (Often used in legal/formal contexts) To be missing, to have an unknown whereabouts.
  • Cảnh sát đang tìm kiếm người đàn ông biệt tích. (The police are searching for the missing man.)

1. Without sending back any news