chìm nghỉm
Adjective/Verb phrase: - To sink completely and irrecoverably; to be utterly submerged or swallowed up: Describes an object sinking straight down to the bottom of a body of water, disappearing from view without a trace. It often implies a sudden, total, and final sinking. - To fail completely and disappear; to be overwhelmed: Used metaphorically to describe a person, project, or idea failing utterly, being buried, or disappearing without hope of recovery.
Literal usage (sinking):
- Chiếc tàu đắm đã chìm nghỉm xuống đáy biển. (The shipwreck sank completely to the ocean floor.)
- Cục đá ném xuống hồ chìm nghỉm ngay lập tức. (The rock thrown into the lake sank like a stone immediately.)
Figurative usage (failure/overwhelm):
- Dự án kinh doanh của họ đã chìm nghỉm sau sáu tháng. (Their business project went under completely after six months.)
- Anh ấy chìm nghỉm trong đống nợ nần. (He was swallowed up by a mountain of debt.)
"chìm nghỉm trong quên lãng": to sink into oblivion; to be completely forgotten.
- Nhiều phát minh quan trọng đã chìm nghỉm trong quên lãng. (Many important inventions have sunk into oblivion.)
"chìm nghỉm dưới đáy": to lie sunken at the bottom.
- Xác tàu vẫn còn chìm nghỉm dưới đáy vịnh. (The ship's wreckage is still lying sunken at the bottom of the bay.)
Chìm (verb): to sink, to submerge.
- Chiếc lá chìm dần. (The leaf sank slowly.)
Nghỉm (descriptive particle): This is an intensifying word often paired with "chìm" to emphasize totality and finality. It is rarely used alone in modern Vietnamese.
- Chìm xuồng: to sink (like a boat).
- Đắm chìm: to be immersed, to be submerged (can be literal or figurative).
- Bị nhấn chìm: to be drowned, to be engulfed.
- Chìm nổi: (lit. sink and float) to experience ups and downs, vicissitudes of life.
- Cuộc đời có lúc chìm nổi. (Life has its ups and downs.)
- Chìm xuồng lặn mất tăm: to sink and disappear without a trace; to vanish completely.
- Sau vụ scandal, ngôi sao đó đã chìm xuồng lặn mất tăm. (After the scandal, that star sank and vanished without a trace.)
- To sink deep