Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Gaunt and haggard: Describes a person who is extremely thin and looks exhausted, often with sunken cheeks and a weary appearance due to prolonged hardship, illness, or worry.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau trận ốm nặng, anh ấy trông gày võ hẳn. (After the serious illness, he looks completely gaunt and haggard.)
  • Những năm tháng lo toan khiến bà cụ ngày càng gày võ. (Years of worry have made the old woman increasingly gaunt and haggard.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used to emphasize a state of physical decline resulting from sustained mental or physical strain, not merely natural thinness.

Variants and Related Words

• Gầy (adj): thin, slim.
  • Cô ấy có dáng người gầy. (She has a slim figure.)
• Tiều tụy (adj): worn-out, haggard (often with a connotation of sadness or decline).
  • Khuôn mặt tiều tụy vì buồn phiền. (A face haggard with sorrow.)

Synonyms

• Gaunt: extremely thin and bony.
• Haggard: looking exhausted and unwell, especially from fatigue, worry, or suffering.
• Emaciated: abnormally thin or weak, especially because of illness or lack of food.

Related Idioms

• Gầy như que củi: as thin as a stick.
  • Đứa trẻ suy dinh dưỡng gầy như que củi. (The malnourished child is as thin as a stick.)
• Gầy trơ xương: skin and bones.
  • Con vật bị bỏ đói gầy trơ xương. (The starved animal is just skin and bones.)