Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Dog-tired, exhausted: Used to describe a state of extreme physical fatigue, often from hard labor.
   • Bad, inferior; going poorly: Used to describe a situation, condition, or quality that is unfavorable, of low standard, or not progressing well.

2. Verb:

   • To stick, to adhere thickly: Refers to a substance clinging or matting onto a surface, forming a dense, often unpleasant layer.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Con trâu cày đã bết. (The plowing buffalo is exhausted.)
  • Dạo này công việc kinh doanh bết lắm. (Lately, the business has been going very poorly.)
• Verb:
  • Quần áo ướt bết vào da. (Wet clothes stick to the skin.)
  • Giày của anh ấy bết đầy bùn. (His shoes are caked with mud.)

Advanced Usage

• The adjective bết often conveys a sense of being stuck in a negative state, whether physical (exhaustion) or situational (a slump).
• As a verb, it often describes an undesirable, messy adhesion, unlike neutral words for sticking.

Variants and Related Words

• Bết bát (adj): An intensified form meaning thoroughly bad, terrible, or a complete mess (often for situations).
  • Mọi chuyện diễn ra bết bát. (Everything turned out terribly.)

Synonyms

• Exhausted: drained, spent, worn out.
• Bad: terrible, awful, inferior.
• Stick: cling, cake, mat, adhere.

Related Idioms

• Bết như bánh: (To be stuck/tired like cake) – An idiom emphasizing being extremely stuck or, colloquially, very exhausted.
  • Làm việc cả ngày, tôi bết như bánh. (Working all day, I am completely exhausted.)
• Đường bết: (Sticky/bad road) – Can refer to a muddy, difficult-to-travel road or metaphorically to a difficult situation.
  • Dự án này đang đi vào đường bết. (This project is heading into a rough patch.)

verb

1. To stick
   • quần áo ướt dính bết vào người
     wet clothing stick to body

adj

1. Dog-tired, exhausted
   • trâu cày đã bết
     the buffalo has been worked to exhaustion
2. Bad, inferior