ghẻ
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun (Medicine):
- Scabies: A contagious skin disease caused by a mite, characterized by intense itching and a pimple-like rash.
- Itch (as a condition): The sensation or the skin condition causing a strong desire to scratch.
Adjective:
- Step-: A prefix used to describe a relationship through remarriage, not by blood. It implies a certain emotional or social distance, often with a negative connotation of being unloving or harsh.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- Trẻ em trong trại tị nạn dễ bị ghẻ. (Children in the refugee camp are prone to scabies.)
- Căn bệnh ghẻ gây ngứa dữ dội về đêm. (The itch from scabies causes intense itching at night.)
Adjective:
- Cô ấy có một người mẹ ghẻ rất khắc nghiệt. (She has a very harsh stepmother.)
- Đứa trẻ cảm thấy lạc lõng với ông bố ghẻ mới. (The child feels alienated from the new stepfather.)
Advanced Usage
- The adjective form is almost exclusively used in compound kinship terms (e.g., , ). It carries a strong cultural connotation, often depicted in folktales as a relationship fraught with neglect or cruelty, unlike the more neutral English term "step-."
Variants and Related Words
- Mẹ ghẻ (n): Stepmother.
- Bố ghẻ (n): Stepfather.
- Con ghẻ (n): Stepchild (less common; is more neutral).
- Ghẻ lở (adj/n): Weeping or severe scabies; can metaphorically describe a festering problem.
Synonyms
- Scabies: The medical condition.
- Itch: The primary symptom.
- Step-: For the familial relationship (note: "ghẻ" as an adjective is more pejorative).
Related Idioms and Expressions
- Ghẻ lạnh: To become cold and distant; to treat someone with indifference.
- Sau cuộc cãi vã, anh ta ghẻ lạnh với cả gia đình. (After the argument, he became cold and distant from the whole family.)
- Ăn ở như mẹ ghẻ con chồng: To treat someone badly, as a stereotypical cruel stepmother treats her stepchild. This idiom encapsulates the core negative cultural association of the word.
- Bà chủ quán ăn ở như mẹ ghẻ con chồng với nhân viên. (The shop owner treats her employees with the cruelty of a stepmother to her stepchild.)