hiếu sự

Definition

Adjective:
- Fond of contriving unnecessary things, showing undue zeal: Describes a person who has a tendency to create or get involved in unnecessary matters, often with excessive or inappropriate eagerness. It implies meddling or stirring up trouble where none is needed.

Usage Examples

Adjective:
- Anh ta đừng có hiếu sự vào chuyện của người khác. (He shouldn't meddle in other people's business / be so fond of stirring up trouble in other people's affairs.)
- Tính hiếu sự của hắn chỉ mang đến rắc rối. (His troublemaking nature / propensity for unnecessary interference only brings trouble.)

Advanced Usage

The term carries a strong negative connotation, criticizing someone for being a busybody or for creating complications.
It can describe both a single act of unnecessary interference ("đừng hiếu sự") and a persistent character trait ("tính hiếu sự").

Variants and Related Words

Hiếu (in this context): Fond of, having a propensity for. This root is combined with other words to form compounds, but "hiếu sự" itself is the fixed term being defined.
Hiếu chiến: Bellicose, warlike, fond of fighting.
Hiếu kỳ: Curious, inquisitive (can be neutral or slightly negative, but less severe than "hiếu sự").

Synonyms

Notes on Different Meanings

The word "hiếu sự" in modern Vietnamese almost exclusively carries the negative meaning defined above (fond of unnecessary trouble).
The Vietnamese-Vietnamese dictionary definition provided ("việc hiếu, việc tang") refers to an archaic or very specific literary usage, where "sự" means "affair" and "hiếu" refers to "filial piety," together meaning "matters of funeral rites." This meaning is extremely rare in contemporary language and is not the common understanding of the term. The primary meaning for learners is the adjective describing a troublesome person.

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