Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Ferocious; Fierce: Having an extremely violent, savage, or aggressive nature or appearance, often causing fear.
   • Menacing; Threatening: Displaying a frightening or intimidating aspect or expression.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Con chó đó trông rất dữ tợn. (That dog looks very ferocious.)
  • Cơn bão với sức gió dữ tợn đã đổ bộ vào bờ biển. (The storm with ferocious winds made landfall on the coast.)
  • Hắn ta nhe răng ra với một vẻ mặt dữ tợn. (He bared his teeth with a menacing expression.)

Advanced Usage

• Used to describe not only living creatures (animals, people) but also the powerful, dangerous, or intimidating nature of natural phenomena, forces, or even abstract concepts.
  • Sự phản bội của hắn thật dữ tợn. (His betrayal was truly vicious.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dữ (adj): fierce, angry, severe. A more general and common term for "fierce."

  • Con sói này rất dữ. (This wolf is very fierce.)

• Hùng tợn (adj): majestic and fierce, often with a sense of imposing power or grandeur.

  • Vị tướng có dáng vẻ hùng tợn. (The general had a majestic and fierce bearing.)

Synonyms

• Ferocious: Savagely fierce, cruel, or violent.
• Fierce: Having or displaying an intense aggressive nature.
• Menacing: Suggesting the presence of danger; threatening.
• Savage: (Of an animal or force of nature) fierce, violent, and uncontrolled.

Related Idioms

• Mặt mày dữ tợn: To have a ferocious/scowling face.

  • Đừng nhìn tôi với mặt mày dữ tợn như thế. (Don't look at me with such a ferocious face.)

• Dữ như cọp: (Fierce as a tiger) An idiom emphasizing extreme ferocity.

  • Khi bảo vệ con, cô ấy trở nên dữ như cọp. (When protecting her child, she becomes fierce as a tiger.)

adj

1. violent; ferocious