cắn rứt

Thân thiện

Một người đàn ông ngồi một mình trên ghế sofa trong phòng khách tối đèn, gương mặt lộ rõ vẻ hối hận và cắn rứt.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To gnaw at / to torment: Describes a persistent, nagging feeling of guilt, regret, or anxiety that troubles one's mind or conscience, as if something is biting or stinging from within.
   • To cause remorse / to prick (one's conscience): To induce a sense of moral unease or regret over a past action or inaction.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Lương tâm anh ấy cắn rứt vì lời nói dối. (His conscience was gnawing at him because of the lie.)
  • Cô ấy bị cắn rứt vì đã không giúp đỡ người bạn. (She was tormented for not helping her friend.)
  • Làm tròn trách nhiệm để khỏi bị cắn rứt. (Fulfill your responsibilities to avoid pangs of conscience.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost exclusively used to describe internal, psychological or moral distress, often related to one's conscience (). It is not used for physical biting.

Variants and Related Words

• Day dứt (v): To be troubled, to be tormented (by thoughts, guilt). This is a very close synonym.
  • Anh ấy day dứt mãi về quyết định đó. (He was tormented by that decision for a long time.)

Synonyms

• To gnaw at: To cause persistent worry.
• To torment: To cause severe mental or emotional suffering.
• To haunt: To cause continual distress (e.g., a memory).
• To prick one's conscience: To cause a sharp feeling of guilt.

Related Idioms

• Lương tâm cắn rứt: A guilty conscience; pangs of conscience.
  • Lương tâm cắn rứt không cho anh ta yên. (A guilty conscience gave him no peace.)

Học thuật

1. To worry, to harass, to sting
   • làm tròn trách nhiệm để lương tâm khỏi bị cắn rứt
     to discharge one's responsibility so that one's conscience will not be worried; to discharge one's responsibility to avoid qualms of conscience