Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Intense; severe; harsh: Used to describe something that is extreme or excessive in degree, such as strong sunlight, a pungent taste, or a sharp sound.
   • Irritable; short-tempered: Describes a person's mood or behavior as easily annoyed, snappish, or quick to anger.

2. Verb:

   • To snap at; to scold sharply: To speak to someone in a harsh, irritable, and often loud manner, usually due to annoyance or anger.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Trời nắng gắt. (The sun is intensely hot.)
  • Vị chanh này chua gắt. (This lemon has a sharp, intense sourness.)
  • Anh ấy có tính gắt. (He has an irritable temperament.)

• Verb:

  • Bà ấy gắt con vì làm ồn. (She snapped at her child for making noise.)
  • Ông chủ gắt nhân viên. (The boss scolded the employee sharply.)

Advanced Usage

• "gắt gỏng": (adjective) irritable, cantankerous. This compound emphasizes a consistently bad-tempered and snappy disposition.
  • Sau một ngày mệt mỏi, cô ấy trở nên gắt gỏng. (After a tiring day, she became irritable.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cáu gắt (adj/verb): to be or become irritable and snap; a state of irritability. This is a common synonym.

  • Đừng cáu gắt với tôi. (Don't snap at me.)

• Gắt guộc (adj): describes a thin, harsh, and often unpleasant voice.

  • Giọng nói gắt guộc của bà ta. (Her harsh, shrill voice.)

Synonyms

• Adjective: intense, harsh, severe, sharp, irritable, snappish.
• Verb: to snap, to bark, to scold sharply.

Related Idioms

• Gắt như mắm tôm: (as sharp/intense as shrimp paste) An idiom describing someone who is extremely irritable or something that is excessively pungent or strong.

  • Ông ấy nổi giận, gắt như mắm tôm. (He got angry, flying into a fierce rage.)

• Nóng gắt: (adjective) intensely hot; also used figuratively for a hot temper.

  • Thời tiết nóng gắt. (The weather is scorching hot.)
  • Tính nóng gắt. (A hot-tempered disposition.)

verb

1. to scold; to chide

adj

1. hard; severe; violent; intense
   • sự nóng gắt
     intense heat