Definition

1. Adjective (Tính từ):
   • Completely ruined, utterly unsuccessful, a total failure: "hỏng bét" describes a situation, plan, or thing that has failed completely and disastrously, with no hope of recovery or salvage. It emphasizes the absolute and often final nature of the failure.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Kế hoạch của họ đã hỏng bét. (Their plan has gone completely bust.)
  • Chiếc máy tính này hỏng bét rồi, không sửa được nữa. (This computer is totally ruined; it can't be fixed anymore.)
  • Mọi thứ đang diễn ra tốt đẹp thì đột nhiên hỏng bét. (Everything was going well, then suddenly it all went to the dogs.)

Advanced Usage

• "hỏng bét" as an intensifier: The word "bét" intensifies "hỏng" (broken/failed), creating a colloquial term for an extreme state of failure. It is often used in informal or spoken contexts to express frustration or finality.
  • Hy vọng của anh ta về công việc đó giờ đã hỏng bét. (His hopes for that job have now been utterly dashed.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hỏng (adj/verb): Broken, failed, spoiled. This is the root word, less intense than "hỏng bét".
  • Bánh bị hỏng. (The cake is spoiled.)
• Thất bại thảm hại (phrase): A miserable/ disastrous failure. A more formal synonym.
  • Dự án đó là một thất bại thảm hại. (That project was a disastrous failure.)

Synonyms

• Thất bại hoàn toàn: Complete failure.
• Tan tành: Shattered, ruined.
• Đổ vỡ: Broken down, collapsed (often for plans or relationships).

Related Idioms/Phrases

• "Tiền mất tật mang": Literally "lose money and keep the ailment"; used for a situation where you invest (money/effort) but end up with a complete failure and additional problems. This idiom often describes a result similar to something being "hỏng bét".
  • Đầu tư vào công ty đó, giờ tiền mất tật mang, mọi thứ hỏng bét. (Investing in that company, now it's a case of losing money and keeping the troubles, everything's gone bust.)

1. (thông tục) Utterly unsuccessful, gone to the dogs
   • Thôi, mọi việc hỏng bét rồi
     Well, everything's gone bust