huênh hoang
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Boastful / braggart: Describes a person who speaks with excessive pride and self-praise, often exaggerating their abilities, achievements, or importance.
- Bombastic / vainglorious: Characterizes speech or behavior that is pompous, arrogant, and full of empty, self-aggrandizing claims.
Verb (to act in this manner):
- To brag / to boast / to swagger: The act of talking with excessive pride, often in a loud, arrogant, and showy manner.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- Anh ta là một kẻ huênh hoang. (He is a boastful person.)
- Đừng nghe những lời huênh hoang của hắn. (Don't listen to his bombastic words.)
Verb:
- Hắn chỉ biết huênh hoang về quá khứ. (He only knows how to brag about the past.)
- Chưa làm được gì mà đã huênh hoang. (To brag about what has not been achieved.)
Advanced Usage
- The term often carries a strong negative connotation, implying that the boasting is unwarranted, annoying, and disconnected from reality or actual accomplishment.
- It is frequently used in critiques of character, highlighting arrogance and a lack of humility.
Variants and Related Words
- Khoác lác (v/adj): to lie boastfully; to talk big. Often used similarly but can imply more outright falsehood.
- Ba hoa (v/adj): to babble or talk nonsense boastfully; to be a blowhard.
- Tự cao tự đại (idiomatic phrase): to be conceited and arrogant.
Synonyms
- Boastful: showing excessive pride.
- Braggart: a person who boasts.
- Pompous: affectedly grand, solemn, or self-important.
- Vainglorious: excessively proud of oneself, especially concerning one's achievements.
Related Idioms
- Huênh hoang khoác lác: A common paired phrase emphasizing empty, loud boasting.
- Cả bài diễn văn chỉ toàn là huênh hoang khoác lác. (The entire speech was nothing but pompous bragging.)
- Brag
- Chưa làm được gì mà đã huênh hoangTo brag about what has not been achieved