Definition

1. Noun:
   • Stepchild: A child from a spouse's previous marriage or relationship.
   • Figurative - An outsider or someone treated unfairly: Used metaphorically to describe a person who is excluded, neglected, or treated worse than others within a family or group.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Cô ấy đối xử rất tốt với con ghẻ của chồng. (She treats her husband's stepchild very well.)
  • Trong công ty đó, anh ta cảm thấy mình như một đứa con ghẻ. (In that company, he feels like an outsider/stepchild.)

Advanced Usage

• "Bị đối xử như con ghẻ": To be treated like a stepchild; to be discriminated against or neglected.
  • Dự án của phòng chúng tôi luôn bị đối xử như con ghẻ, không nhận được ngân sách. (Our department's project is always treated like a stepchild, never receiving any budget.)

Variants and Related Words

• Con riêng: (Noun) A more neutral term for "one's own child from a previous relationship." It can refer to either the parent's or the step-parent's perspective.
  • Anh ấy có hai đứa con riêng. (He has two children from a previous relationship.)
• Con chung: (Noun) A child shared by both current spouses/parents; a child of the current marriage.
• Dượng: (Noun) Stepfather.
• Mẹ kế / Kế mẫu: (Noun) Stepmother.

Synonyms

• Stepchild: (English equivalent, neutral term).
• Outsider: (English equivalent for the figurative sense).

Notes on Meaning and Connotation

The term "con ghẻ" often carries a negative connotation, implying poor treatment, neglect, or second-class status within a family structure. The neutral, descriptive term is "con riêng" (child from a previous relationship). "Con ghẻ" is frequently used in its figurative sense to describe unfair treatment in various social contexts (e.g., workplace, community).