hẩm
Definition
Adjective: 1. Stale; spoiled; having an unpleasant sour or musty smell or taste due to spoilage or age: Used primarily to describe food, especially cooked rice or grains, that has gone bad or lost its freshness. 2. Unlucky; unfortunate; having a poor or inferior lot in life: Used in a figurative, often poetic or proverbial sense, to describe a person's fate, destiny, or romantic luck as being unfortunate or lowly.
Usage Examples
- Adjective (Food):
- Cơm để lâu ngày đã bị hẩm. (The rice left for many days has gone stale.)
- Mùi hẩm bốc lên từ thùng gạo. (A musty smell rose from the rice bin.)
- Adjective (Fate/Luck):
- Số phận hẩm duyên ôi. (A proverbial saying meaning "An unlucky fate and a wretched love.")
- Anh ta than thở về cái phận hẩm của mình. (He lamented his wretched lot in life.)
Advanced Usage
- The word "hẩm" is often used in fixed, literary expressions related to fate, especially in conjunction with "duyên" (romantic affinity/love) or "phận" (fate/lot). For example: "hẩm duyên" (unfortunate in love), "phận hẩm" (a lowly/unlucky lot).
- When describing food, it implies a specific type of spoilage common to cooked starches (like rice) that develop a sour, fermented odor and taste, not just general rottenness.
Variants and Related Words
- Hôi hẩm (adj): An intensified form, emphasizing a strong, unpleasant stale or musty smell.
- Căn phòng kho chứa có mùi hôi hẩm. (The storage room has a strong musty smell.)
- Ể hẩm (adj, regional): Similar to "hẩm," describing food that is spoiled or has a stale taste.
Synonyms
- For food: Ôi (sour, spoiled), thiu (rancid, spoiled), có mùi lạ (having a strange smell).
- For fate: Hẩm hiu (desolate, bleak – often for circumstances), bạc phận (ill-fated), đen đủi (unlucky).
Related Idioms and Proverbs
- "Phận hẩm duyên ôi": A common proverb describing a state of being both unlucky in general fate (phận hẩm) and unfortunate in love/relationships (duyên ôi). It conveys a deep sense of misfortune.
- Cuộc đời bà cứ phận hẩm duyên ôi mãi. (Her life has remained one of wretched fate and luckless love.)
adj
-
Nusty; smelling or tasting sour or stale
Khám phá thêm
Các từ liên quan
Từ chứa "hẩm"
Từ có nhắc đến "hẩm"
