Definition

1. Adjective (Tính từ):
   • To be deprived of something to eat, to not be given food: Used to describe a situation where someone misses a meal or is not provided with food, often due to their own fault (e.g., being late) or external circumstances.
   • (Colloquial) To fail to gain something, to suffer a loss, to miss out: Used figuratively to mean failing to achieve a benefit, profit, or opportunity, resulting in a disadvantage or loss.

Usage Examples

• Literal meaning (deprived of food):
  • Đến chậm quá thì hỏng ăn đấy. (If you come too late, you won't be given anything to eat.)
  • Nhà hết gạo rồi, tối nay có lẽ hỏng ăn. (The house is out of rice, we might have no food tonight.)
• Figurative meaning (suffer a loss/miss out):
  • Làm không cẩn thận thì hỏng ăn. (You'll suffer losses / fail because of carelessness.)
  • Bỏ lỡ cơ hội này là hỏng ăn đấy. (Missing this opportunity means you'll miss out / lose out.)

Advanced Usage

• "hỏng ăn hỏng mặc": A more emphatic colloquial phrase meaning "to be deprived of both food and clothing" or, more generally, "to suffer complete deprivation or failure."
  • Công ty phá sản, nhân viên hỏng ăn hỏng mặc. (The company went bankrupt, leaving the employees with nothing.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hỏng (verb/adjective): To be broken, spoiled, or ruined. This is the root word.
  • Cái máy tính hỏng rồi. (The computer is broken.)
• Ăn (verb): To eat. This is the root word.
  • Tôi ăn cơm. (I eat rice.)

Synonyms

• Mất phần (verb phrase): To lose one's share/portion.
  • Đi muộn là mất phần ăn đấy. (Going late means you lose your share of the food.)
• Thua lỗ (verb): To incur a loss (especially financial).
  • Dự án này có nguy cơ thua lỗ. (This project risks incurring a loss.)
• Lỡ cơ hội (verb phrase): To miss an opportunity.
  • Anh ấy đã lỡ cơ hội tốt. (He missed a good opportunity.)

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Tiền mất tật mang": An idiom meaning "to lose money and keep the illness/suffering," used for situations where one suffers a double loss. While not a direct synonym, it shares the concept of suffering a detrimental outcome, similar to the figurative use of .
  • Đầu tư bừa bãi rồi tiền mất tật mang. (Investing recklessly leads to losing money and gaining trouble.)

1. Be deprived of something to eat, not be given to eat
   • Đến chậm quá thì hỏng ăn đấy
     If you come too late, you won't be given anything to eat.
2. (thông tục) Fail to gain something, suffer losses
   • Làm không cẩn thận thì hỏng ăn
     To suffer losses (to fail) because of carelessness