Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Corrupt, degenerate: Describes something (especially customs, morals, or systems) that has decayed, become rotten, or fallen into a state of depravity and is no longer good or acceptable.
   • Decayed, rotten: Can describe something that is physically or morally spoiled and worthless.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Phải từ bỏ những phong tục hủ bại. (Degenerate customs must be abolished.)
  • Một xã hội với những tư tưởng hủ bại. (A society with corrupt ideologies.)
  • Những quan niệm hủ bại đó cần được loại bỏ. (Those degenerate notions need to be eliminated.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used in formal or literary contexts to criticize outdated, harmful, or morally bankrupt traditions, practices, or systems.
• Typically modifies abstract nouns like (customs), (ideology), (concept), (regime).

Variants and Related Words

• Hủ lậu (adj): Obsolete, backward, antiquated (often referring to outdated ideas or methods).
• Thối nát (adj): Rotten, corrupt (can be used for both physical decay and moral/political corruption).
• Suy đồi (adj/verb): Degenerate, decadent / to degenerate (describing moral decline).

Synonyms

• Đồi bại: Depraved, degenerate.
• Suy thoái: Degenerated, decadent (often used for moral or economic decline).
• Bại hoại: Corrupted, ruined.

Notes on Meaning

• The word strongly implies a negative judgment and a state of decline from a previous, better condition.
• It is not typically used to describe people directly (e.g., "a corrupt person") but rather the systems, customs, or morals associated with them.

1. Corrupt, degenerate
   • Phải từ bỏ những phong tục hủ bại
     Degenerate customs must be abolished