Definition

1. Verb:
   • To try to justify oneself: To use words or arguments to defend oneself after doing something wrong or making a mistake, often in a weak or unconvincing way.
   • To make excuses: To give reasons or explanations to avoid blame, responsibility, or an unwanted task, typically when one is at fault.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Đã làm sai còn chống chế. (He had done wrong, yet he tried hard to justify himself.)
  • Đừng chống chế nữa, tôi biết cậu đã quên làm bài tập. (Stop making excuses; I know you forgot to do the homework.)
  • Cô ấy luôn chống chế khi bị phê bình. (She always tries to justify herself when criticized.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often carries a negative connotation, implying that the justification is insincere, feeble, or an attempt to evade the truth.
• It is commonly used in situations of blame, criticism, or confrontation, where the person being accused attempts to argue their way out.

Variants and Related Words

• Bào chữa (v): To defend, to plead for. This is a more neutral or formal term for offering a defense, not necessarily implying the defense is weak or dishonest like "chống chế."
• Biện minh (v): To justify, to vindicate. This often implies a more reasoned or principled justification.

Synonyms

• To make excuses
• To offer a feeble defense
• To argue one's way out

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Chống chế cho qua chuyện: To make excuses just to get past the matter/to smooth things over.
  • Anh ta chỉ đang chống chế cho qua chuyện thôi. (He's just making excuses to smooth things over.)
• Làm kiểu chống chế: To do something in a perfunctory or half-hearted manner, just for the sake of doing it.
  • Đừng làm kiểu chống chế, hãy tập trung vào chất lượng. (Don't do it in a half-hearted way; focus on quality.)

verb

1. To try to justify oneself
   • đã làm sai còn chống chế
     he had done wrong, yet he tried hard to justify himself