Definition

1. Noun:
   • Maggot: A soft-bodied, legless larva of a fly, especially that of the housefly, often found in decaying organic matter.
   • (Figurative, derogatory) A contemptible person; a vile individual: Used to describe a person who is considered morally corrupt, harmful, or parasitic.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Literal):
  • Thức ăn hỏng đầy giòi. (The spoiled food is full of maggots.)
  • Giòi thường phát triển trong thịt thối. (Maggots often develop in rotten meat.)
• Noun (Figurative):
  • Hắn ta là một tên giòi trong xã hội. (He is a maggot [contemptible person] in society.)
  • Bọn giòi bọ đó chỉ chuyên đi lừa đảo người già. (Those maggots [vile people] only specialize in cheating the elderly.)

Advanced Usage

• "Giòi trong xương": A Vietnamese idiom literally meaning "maggots in the bone," used to describe someone who is fundamentally corrupt, rotten to the core, or a traitor from within.
  • Kẻ phản bội ấy chính là giòi trong xương của tổ chức. (That traitor is the maggot in the bone [fundamentally corrupt element] of the organization.)

Variants and Related Words

• Giòi bọ (noun): A compound word often used as a collective term for maggots and similar vermin, or figuratively for a group of despicable people.
  • Dọn dẹp đống rác đầy giòi bọ. (Clean up the trash pile full of maggots and vermin.)
• Giòi lươn (noun): A specific type of larva; sometimes used regionally.

Synonyms

• Ấu trùng ruồi: Fly larva (more scientific/formal term).
• Sâu bọ: Bugs, vermin (broader term, can be used figuratively similarly).
• Kẻ đê tiện: A despicable person (figurative synonym).
• Kẻ hèn hạ: A vile/lowly person (figurative synonym).

Related Idioms

• "Không ưa thì dưa có giòi": A Vietnamese proverb literally meaning "If you don't like it, even the melon has maggots." It implies that when you dislike someone or something, you will find fault with it no matter what.
• "Giòi trong xương": As explained in Advanced Usage.

noun

1. maggot