Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Rancid, smelling/tasting of rancid oil: Describes a specific unpleasant smell or taste that occurs when fats or oils (especially cooking oils) have oxidized and spoiled. This is the primary and most common meaning.
   • Having an unpleasant greasy smell: More broadly, can describe something that smells unpleasantly of stale oil or grease.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Dầu ăn để lâu ngày bắt đầu có mùi hôi dầu. (The cooking oil left for a long time has started to smell rancid.)
  • Món khoai tây chiên này có vị hôi dầu, có lẽ dầu đã được dùng nhiều lần. (These french fries taste rancid; perhaps the oil has been reused many times.)
  • Cái chảo này chưa rửa kỹ, vẫn còn mùi hôi dầu. (This frying pan isn't washed thoroughly; it still has a greasy, stale smell.)

Advanced Usage

• Used to describe non-food items: While primarily for food, it can metaphorically describe other things that have a similar stale, greasy odor.
  • Chiếc áo bếp này ngửi thấy mùi hôi dầu. (This kitchen apron smells of rancid oil.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hôi (adj): Smelly, stinking. A more general term for bad smells.
• Dầu (n): Oil, grease. The source of the specific smell.
• Ôi (adj): Spoiled, rotten (often for proteins like meat/fish, or sometimes for fats). is a more precise term for spoiled fats/oils.

Synonyms

• Có mùi dầu mỡ ôi/khét: Smelling of rancid/burnt oil.
• Có vị dầu: Oily taste (can be neutral or negative depending on context).

Related Phrases/Idioms

• "Dầu ôi": This is a common phrase meaning "rancid oil" and is the direct cause of the smell/taste.
  • Đừng dùng dầu ôi để nấu ăn. (Don't use rancid oil for cooking.)