Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Stiflingly hot, sweltering: Describes an intense, oppressive, and uncomfortable level of heat, often in the weather or an environment.
   • Burning with fever: Describes a state of having a high body temperature due to illness, feeling very hot and feverish.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Trời nóng hầm hập, chẳng ai muốn ra đường. (The weather is stiflingly hot, no one wants to go out.)
  • Đứa trẻ sốt cao, người hầm hập. (The child has a high fever and is burning hot.)

Advanced Usage

• "nóng hầm hập": This is the most common collocation, meaning "stiflingly/swelteringly hot." It intensifies the adjective "nóng" (hot).

  • Căn phòng nhỏ nóng hầm hập vì không có điều hòa. (The small room is sweltering because there's no air conditioner.)

• "sốt hầm hập": A common collocation meaning "to have a burning fever."

  • Sau khi tiêm vaccine, bé sốt hầm hập cả đêm. (After the vaccination, the baby had a burning fever all night.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hâm hấp (adj): This is a variant spelling sometimes used, but "hầm hập" is more standard. It carries the same meanings.
• Hầm hầm (adj): An adjective describing a sullen, sulky, or simmering angry expression (e.g., - a sullen face). Note: This is a different word with a distinct meaning related to mood, not temperature.

Synonyms

• Oi ả / oi bức (adj): muggy, sultry, oppressively hot and humid (specifically for weather).
• Nóng như lửa đốt (idiom): as hot as being burned by fire.
• Sốt cao (v/n): to have a high fever / high fever.

Related Phrases

• "Người nóng hầm hập": One's body feels burning hot (often due to fever or extreme heat exposure).
  • Làm việc dưới nắng cả ngày, người tôi nóng hầm hập. (Working under the sun all day, my body feels burning hot.)

Related Idioms

• "Giận hầm hầm" / "Mặt hầm hầm": To be fuming with anger / to have a sullen, angry face. Important: This idiom uses the variant "hầm hầm" which is related to anger, not heat. It is included here due to its visual and phonetic similarity, but it represents a different semantic field.

1. Nóng hầm hập
2. Stiflingly hot
3. Very hot with fever; burning with fever