Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely thin and underdeveloped: Describes a person or animal who is not just thin but also appears weak, frail, or stunted due to lack of nourishment or health.
   • Gaunt and skeletal: Emphasizes a bony, emaciated appearance where the bones are prominent.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Đứa trẻ đó trông còm nhom vì suy dinh dưỡng. (That child looks gaunt and stunted due to malnutrition.)
  • Sau trận ốm nặng, ông ấy trở nên còm nhom. (After the serious illness, he became skin and bones.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used in a descriptive, sometimes pitying context to emphasize poor health or condition.
  • Nhìn thân hình còm nhom của chú chó hoang, cô ấy quyết định mang nó về nuôi. (Seeing the emaciated body of the stray dog, she decided to take it home.)

Variants and Related Words

• Còm cõi (adj): Thin and weak, often due to age or long-term hardship. Slightly less intense than 'còm nhom'.
  • Ông lão còm cõi ngồi bên vệ đường. (The frail old man sat by the roadside.)
• Gầy gò (adj): Thin and bony. Can be synonymous but may lack the connotation of being 'stunted'.
• Khô héo (adj): Withered, dried up. Used for plants or metaphorically for people, implying a loss of vitality.

Synonyms

• Suy dinh dưỡng (adj): Malnourished. Focuses on the cause of the thinness.
• Xương xẩu (adj, informal): All skin and bones. A colloquial synonym.
• Hốc hác (adj): Haggard, with sunken features often from tiredness or illness.

Notes on Meaning

• The word 'còm nhom' strongly implies that the thinness is undesirable, unhealthy, and evokes sympathy or concern. It is not a neutral term like 'mảnh khảnh' (slender).
• It is often used in its base form 'còm nhom'. The variant 'còm nhỏm' mentioned in the reference is a reduplication that intensifies the meaning, but 'còm nhom' is the standard and more common form.

1. Thin and stunted