Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Sickly, frail, weak and thin: Describes a person who is both thin and lacks strength or vitality, often due to illness, poor health, or exhaustion. It emphasizes a state of physical weakness combined with a gaunt appearance.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau trận ốm nặng, anh ấy trông rất gầy yếu. (After the serious illness, he looks very sickly.)
  • Bà cụ sống một mình và ngày càng gầy yếu đi. (The old lady lives alone and is becoming increasingly frail.)
  • Đừng làm việc quá sức kẻo trở nên gầy yếu. (Don't overwork yourself, or you'll become weak and thin.)

Advanced Usage

• "trông gầy yếu": to look sickly/frail.

  • Đứa trẻ thiếu ăn trông gầy yếu. (The malnourished child looks sickly.)

• "gầy yếu xanh xao": frail and pale. This is a common collocation emphasizing both thinness, weakness, and pallor.

  • Bệnh nhân mới phẫu thuật xong, gầy yếu xanh xao. (The patient just after surgery is frail and pale.)

Variants and Related Words

• Gầy gò (adj): Skinny, gaunt, bony. Focuses more on the thin, bony appearance rather than the state of health.

  • Cô ấy gầy gò vì ăn kiêng quá mức. (She is skinny due to excessive dieting.)

• Ốm yếu (adj): Sickly, in poor health. Focuses more on the state of being sick or having poor health, which may or may not include thinness.

  • Thể trạng ốm yếu khiến cậu bé hay bị bệnh. (His sickly constitution makes the boy prone to illness.)

• Yếu ớt (adj): Weak, feeble. Focuses primarily on lack of strength, not necessarily on physical thinness.

  • Người bệnh nói bằng giọng yếu ớt. (The patient spoke in a feeble voice.)

Synonyms

• Frail: weak and delicate.
• Sickly: often ill; in poor health.
• Gaunt: lean and haggard, especially due to suffering or age.

Related Idioms

• "Gầy như que củi": (As) thin as a rake/a stick. An idiom emphasizing extreme thinness.

  • Nó ăn không ngon miệng nên gầy như que củi. (He has no appetite, so he's as thin as a rake.)

• "Yếu như sên": (As) weak as a snail. An idiom emphasizing extreme weakness.

  • Sau cơn sốt, tôi cảm thấy yếu như sên. (After the fever, I felt as weak as a snail.)

adj

1. sickly