Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Very short, stubby, cut off short: Describes something that is extremely short in length, often abruptly or in a way that seems incomplete or stunted. It emphasizes a lack of expected length.
   • Truncated, abruptly ended: Can describe something, like a story or conversation, that ends very suddenly and prematurely.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cái đuôi của chú chó bị cụt lủn từ khi mới sinh. (The puppy's tail has been very short/stubby since birth.)
  • Anh ấy để tóc cụt lủn trông rất mát mẻ. (He keeps his hair cut very short, which looks very cool.)
  • Câu chuyện kết thúc cụt lủn, khiến độc giả thất vọng. (The story ended abruptly, leaving the readers disappointed.)

Advanced Usage

• "cụt lủn cụt ngủn": A more emphatic, reduplicative form. It reinforces the meaning of being very short or abruptly cut off.
  • Chiếc bút chì mới gọt đã bị cụt lủn cụt ngủn. (The newly sharpened pencil is now very short/stubby.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cụt (adj): Short, cut off. The root word.
  • cây cụt (a stunted tree), ngón tay cụt (a severed/short finger).
• Cụt ngủn (adj): An older or variant form with the same meaning as "cụt lủn".
• Ngắn cũn cỡn (adj): Very short (often for clothing), scanty.
• Cộc lốc (adj): Curt, abrupt, blunt (often in speech).

Synonyms

• Ngắn tũn: Very short.
• Cũn cỡn: Too short, scanty.
• Lùn tịt: Very short (in stature), stunted.

Related Phrases

• Nói cụt lủn: To speak curtly, to give a very short, abrupt answer.
  • Khi được hỏi, cô ấy chỉ trả lời cụt lủn "không biết". (When asked, she only answered curtly with "don't know".)
• Áo cụt lủn: A very short shirt/crop top.
  • Cô ấy mặc chiếc áo cụt lủn. (She is wearing a very short crop top.)

Related Idioms

• Cụt hứng: To have one's mood/enthusiasm cut short, to be disappointed.
  • Trận mưa đến làm cụt hứng buổi dã ngoại. (The rain came and ruined/cut short the mood of the picnic.)
• Đầu voi đuôi chuột: Literally "elephant's head, mouse's tail"; means something starts grandly but ends poorly or insignificantly. This shares the concept of an unsatisfactory, shortened ending like "cụt lủn" can imply.