còm lưng

Ông cụ đã còm lưng vì tuổi tác.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Hunchbacked; stooped: Describes a person whose back is permanently bent forward in a rounded shape, often due to age, illness, or poor posture.
   • Having a curved or arched back: Can describe a temporary or characteristic posture where the spine is not straight.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Ông cụ đã còm lưng vì tuổi tác. (The old man is hunchbacked due to age.)
  • Ngồi máy tính cả ngày khiến anh ấy bắt đầu còm lưng. (Sitting at the computer all day is starting to make him stoop.)
  • Con mèo còm lưng lên khi thấy con chó. (The cat arched its back when it saw the dog.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used descriptively and can carry a neutral or slightly pitiful connotation, depending on context. It is not typically used as a direct, polite term for a medical condition in formal settings.

Variants and Related Words

• Gù lưng (adj): Synonym for hunchbacked, often with a stronger implication of a permanent physical deformity.

  • Cô ấy bị gù lưng bẩm sinh. (She was born with a hunchback.)

• Khòm lưng (adj/v): To bend over, to stoop. Often implies a temporary action of bending the back forward.

  • Bà khòm lưng nhặt đồ trên sàn. (She bent over to pick up the item from the floor.)

Synonyms

• Stooped: Bent forward and downward.
• Hunched: Having the back and shoulders rounded.
• Round-shouldered: Having shoulders that slope forward due to posture.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Còm lưng còng lưng: An alliterative phrase emphasizing a very stooped or bent back, often from hard work or old age.
  • Cả đời lam lũ, giờ ông ấy còm lưng còng lưng. (After a life of toil, he is now bent and stooped.)