hom hỏm
Definition
- Adjective:
- Very deep, yawning, gaping: Describes something, typically a hole, pit, or cavity, that is extremely deep, dark, and often appears bottomless or frighteningly profound.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Hang động này sâu hom hỏm. (This cave is yawningly deep.)
- Anh ta đào một cái hố hom hỏm trong vườn. (He dug a gapingly deep hole in the garden.)
- Đừng lại gần mép giếng, nó sâu hom hỏm đấy. (Don't go near the edge of the well; it's frighteningly deep.)
Advanced Usage
- Descriptive Literary Use: This word is primarily used in descriptive, often literary or vivid spoken contexts to emphasize extreme depth. It carries a connotation of something being so deep it seems dark, mysterious, or dangerous.
- Con mương sau nhà sâu hom hỏm, đầy nước đọng. (The ditch behind the house is gapingly deep, full of stagnant water.)
Variants and Related Words
- Hỏm (adj): Deep, hollow. This is the root word. "Hom hỏm" is a reduplicative form (từ láy) based on "hỏm," intensifying its meaning.
- Thăm thẳm (adj): Boundlessly deep, abyssal. A close synonym often used in similar poetic contexts.
- Sâu hoắm (adj): Another reduplicative form meaning very deep.
Synonyms
- Sâu thẳm: Profoundly deep.
- Sâu hoắm: Very deep (similar reduplicative structure).
Notes on Meaning
- Specificity: The word "hom hỏm" almost exclusively describes physical depth (of holes, caves, wells, etc.). It is not typically used for abstract concepts like profound knowledge or deep thought, for which words like "sâu sắc" are more appropriate.
- Connotation: It often implies a sense of unease, mystery, or danger associated with the depth, not merely a measurement.
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xem hỏm (láy)
