Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely poor and hard; destitute and difficult: Describes a state of severe poverty and hardship, involving great suffering and struggle to meet basic needs.
   • Miserable; wretched: Refers to a condition of profound unhappiness and distress caused by extreme deprivation.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Họ đã trải qua một thời thơ ấu cơ cực. (They experienced an extremely poor and hard childhood.)
  • Cuộc sống cơ cực khiến bà ấy già đi trông thấy. (The destitute and difficult life made her age visibly.)
  • Người nông dân phải làm việc cơ cực quanh năm. (The farmer had to work in wretched conditions all year round.)

Advanced Usage

• The word "cơ cực" often implies a prolonged, grinding state of poverty and struggle, not just a temporary difficulty. It conveys a sense of being worn down by life's hardships.

Variants and Related Words

• Cực khổ (adj): Hard, arduous, full of toil and suffering.

  • Công việc này rất cực khổ. (This work is very arduous.)

• Khốn khổ (adj): Miserable, distressed, pitiful.

  • Gia đình khốn khổ đó cần sự giúp đỡ. (That miserable family needs help.)

Synonyms

• Destitute: Lacking the necessities of life.
• Wretched: In a state of deep misery or poverty.
• Impoverished: Reduced to poverty.

Related Idioms

• Nếm mùi cơ cực: To taste/experience extreme hardship.

  • Ông ấy đã nếm mùi cơ cực từ khi còn nhỏ. (He tasted extreme hardship from a young age.)

• Đói cơ cực: To be ravenously hungry; in a state of extreme hunger.

  • Sau trận đói kéo dài, dân làng đều đói cơ cực. (After the prolonged famine, the villagers were all ravenously hungry.)

adj

1. Ravenous; poor and hard