Definition

1. Adjective (Tính từ):
   • Completely empty-handed, gaining absolutely nothing: "hốc xì" is a colloquial term used to describe a state of having obtained nothing at all from an effort or situation.
   • Worthless, insignificant: It can also describe something that is of no value or consequence.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cả ngày đi câu, về tay hốc xì. (I went fishing all day and came back empty-handed.)
  • Mong đợi được thưởng, cuối cùng hốc xì. (I hoped to get a bonus, but ended up with nothing.)
  • Trận đó đánh nhau hốc xì, chẳng được tích sự gì. (That fight was pointless, it didn't achieve anything.)

Advanced Usage

• "hốc xì ăn": To get nothing to eat; to go hungry.
  • Công việc lúc này khó khăn, nhiều khi hốc xì ăn. (Work is difficult now, sometimes we get nothing to eat.)
• Used to emphasize total failure or lack of result, often in gambling, business, or competitive situations.
  • Đầu tư cả vốn vào mà hốc xì. (Invested all the capital and got nothing back.)

Variants and Related Words

• hốc (adj): Empty, having nothing. "Hốc xì" is a stronger, more colloquial form.
  • Về tay hốc. (To return empty-handed.)
• trắng tay (adj): Literally "white hands"; empty-handed, having lost everything.
  • Cờ bạc xong là trắng tay. (After gambling, he was left with nothing.)

Synonyms

• tay trắng: empty-handed.
• không có gì: to have nothing.
• vô ích: futile, useless.

Related Idioms

• "hốc xì như hốc": An intensified form meaning "completely and utterly empty-handed," emphasizing the total lack of gain.
  • Làm ăn thua lỗ, giờ hốc xì như hốc. (The business failed, now I'm completely broke and have nothing.)

1. (thông tục) Get nothing at all, gain nothing
   • Hốc xì ăn
     To get nothing to eat