Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To cause one's wealth/money to dwindle; to be costly; to be a drain on resources: Refers to actions, habits, or situations that lead to the significant and often wasteful depletion of financial resources or assets.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Cờ bạc và rượu chè là những thú vui hao tài. (Gambling and heavy drinking are pastimes that drain one's wealth.)
  • Dự án xây dựng này quá hao tài tốn của. (This construction project is extremely costly and resource-intensive.)
  • Anh ta hao tài vì những thói quen xa xỉ. (He is squandering his fortune due to lavish habits.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often carries a critical or warning tone, implying that the expenditure is unnecessary, excessive, or leads to ruin.
• It is frequently used in the fixed, idiomatic structure "hao tài tốn của" to strongly emphasize the significant waste of both money and material possessions.
  • Chiến tranh khiến đất nước hao tài tốn của. (War causes the country to expend vast wealth and resources.)

Variants and Related Words

• Haophí (Verb): To waste, to squander. Focuses more on the act of wasting itself.
  • Đừng haophí thời gian. (Don't waste time.)
• Tốn kém (Adjective): Expensive, costly. Describes something that requires a lot of money.
  • Một kỳ nghỉ tốn kém. (An expensive vacation.)

Synonyms

• Lãng phí: To waste, to be wasteful.
• Tiêu pha hoang phí: To spend extravagantly/to squander.
• Làm cạn kiệt tài chính: To deplete financial resources.

Related Idioms

• Hao tài tốn của: As mentioned above, an intensified idiom meaning "to cause great financial and material loss" or "to be a massive drain on resources."
• Vung tay quá trán: To spend money recklessly (literally: to wave one's hand above the forehead).

1. make money dwindle, becostly