Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Steaming hot, very hot: Describes something that is freshly cooked or heated and still emits visible steam or intense heat. It emphasizes the freshness and high temperature of food or objects.
   • Fresh and hot: Often used to describe food that has just been prepared and is at its optimal temperature for consumption.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Bánh mì mới ra lò còn nóng hổi. (The bread just out of the oven is still steaming hot.)
  • Cô ấy đưa cho tôi một tách trà nóng hổi. (She handed me a steaming hot cup of tea.)
  • Thông tin này còn nóng hổi, vừa mới được công bố. (This information is still fresh/hot off the press, having just been announced.)

Advanced Usage

• "nóng hổi": This is the most common and fixed collocation. It functions as an adjectival phrase meaning "steaming hot" or "fresh and hot."
  • Món súp được bưng ra bàn còn nóng hổi. (The soup was brought to the table still steaming hot.)
• Used metaphorically to describe news, information, or events that are very recent and current.
  • Tin tức nóng hổi về vụ tai nạn. (Fresh/hot news about the accident.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hôi hổi (reduplicative form - láy từ): An intensified form of "hổi," used in the phrase "nóng hôi hổi." It conveys an even stronger sense of heat and freshness.
  • Bát cháo còn nóng hôi hổi. (The bowl of porridge is still piping/steaming hot.)

Synonyms

• Nóng bỏng: scorching hot, burning hot (can be used literally for temperature or metaphorically for urgent issues).
• Nóng ran: extremely hot (to the point of causing a burning sensation).
• Nóng hôi: (similar, but less common than "nóng hổi").

Notes on Usage

• The word "hổi" is almost never used alone in modern Vietnamese. It is a bound morpheme that primarily appears in the fixed phrase "nóng hổi."
• The reference from the Vietnamese-French dictionary ("tout (chaud)") supports this, indicating it means "all (hot)" or "completely (hot)," which aligns with its function as an intensifier for "nóng" (hot).
• It is an adjective, but it behaves like an adverbial complement to the adjective "nóng," forming a descriptive phrase.

1. Steaming [hot]
   • Bát phổ còn nóng hổi
     A steaming hot bowl of noodle soup
2. Hôi hổi (láy)
   • Còn nóng hôi hổi
     To be still steaming hot