Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Dangerous; perilous: Describes a situation, place, or condition that involves serious risk or the threat of harm, loss, or death.
   • Cruel; malicious; treacherous: Describes a person's character or an action that is deceitful, cunning, and intended to cause harm to others.
   • Crucial; strategically difficult and inaccessible: Describes a location that is of vital importance and hard to reach or pass through, often due to terrain.

Usage Examples

• As an adjective (dangerous):
  • Đường đèo này rất hiểm. (This mountain pass is very dangerous.)
  • Tình thế hiểm nghèo. (A perilous situation.)
• As an adjective (malicious):
  • Lòng dạ hiểm độc. (A malicious heart.)
  • Hắn ta là một kẻ hiểm. (He is a treacherous person.)
• As an adjective (strategically crucial/inaccessible):
  • Chiếm giữ vị trí hiểm. (To occupy a crucial/strategic position.)

Advanced Usage

• "hiểm hóc": Emphasizes extreme danger, difficulty, or malicious cunning.
  • Câu hỏi hiểm hóc. (A tricky/perplexing question.)
• "hiểm nghèo": Describes a state of grave danger or a critical, life-threatening situation.
  • Bệnh tình hiểm nghèo. (A critical illness.)
• "nơi hiểm yếu": Refers to a strategically vital and defensible location.
  • Phòng thủ nơi hiểm yếu. (To defend a strategic stronghold.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hiểm độc (adj): Malicious, venomous, combining cunning and cruelty.
  • Âm mưu hiểm độc. (A malicious plot.)
• Hiểm họa (n): Disaster, catastrophe; a great danger.
  • Hiểm họa thiên nhiên. (Natural disaster.)
• Nguy hiểm (adj): The most common and direct synonym for "dangerous."
  • Khu vực nguy hiểm. (Danger zone.)

Synonyms

• Nguy hiểm: Dangerous, hazardous.
• Độc ác: Cruel, wicked.
• Gian xảo: Cunning, crafty.
• Hiểm trở (for terrain): Rugged, treacherous.

Related Idioms

• "Lòng lang dạ thú / dạ sói": Having the heart of a wolf; describes extreme cruelty and treachery, similar to "hiểm độc."
  • Tên phản bội đó có lòng lang dạ thú. (That traitor is utterly treacherous.)
• "Núi cao vực thẳm": High mountains and deep abysses; describes dangerously steep terrain, relating to the "inaccessible" meaning.
  • Con đường đi qua núi cao vực thẳm. (The road goes through high mountains and deep abysses.)
• "Đánh vào chỗ hiểm": To hit someone where it hurts most; to exploit a vulnerable spot (can be physical or metaphorical).
  • Lời nói của cô ấy đánh vào chỗ hiểm. (Her words hit a raw nerve.)

adj

1. dangerous; perilous