Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Cruel, ferocious, brutal: Describes a person, animal, or action that is extremely violent, savage, and shows a desire to cause suffering or pain. It implies a combination of fierceness and malicious intent.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Bọn cướp đó rất hung ác. (Those robbers are very cruel/ferocious.)
  • Hắn ta có một bản tính hung ác. (He has a cruel/brutal nature.)
  • Con hổ nhìn rất hung ác. (The tiger looks very ferocious.)

Advanced Usage

• "hung ác tàn bạo": A common collocation intensifying the meaning to "cruel and brutal."

  • Chúng không ngần ngại thực hiện những hành động hung ác tàn bạo. (They did not hesitate to carry out cruel and brutal acts.)

• Used to describe abstract concepts like policies, regimes, or eras.

  • Chế độ hung ác đó đã bị lật đổ. (That brutal regime was overthrown.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hung dữ (adj): Fierce, ferocious (often used for animals or a fierce temper, may lack the strong connotation of malicious intent found in "hung ác").
• Độc ác (adj): Malicious, wicked, evil (emphasizes malicious intent and cunning, sometimes more psychological than physically violent).
• Tàn bạo (adj): Brutal, barbaric (emphasizes savage, inhuman violence and cruelty).
• Hung thần (n): Fiend, demon (a noun meaning a ferocious or evil spirit/person).
• Hung khí (n): Lethal weapon (a noun for a weapon).

Synonyms

• Dã man: Savage, barbaric.
• Tàn nhẫn: Merciless, ruthless.
• Hiểm độc: Malicious, venomous (emphasizes treacherous cunning).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

Note: As an adjective, "hung ác" does not form phrasal verbs. It can be part of verb phrases. - Tỏ ra hung ác: To act/show oneself as cruel. - Kẻ thù ngày càng tỏ ra hung ác. (The enemy is increasingly acting cruelly.) - Trở nên hung ác: To become cruel/ferocious. - Sau biến cố, anh ta trở nên hung ác. (After the incident, he became cruel.)

Related Idioms

• Mặt hung ác: A cruel/ferocious face (describing a fierce facial expression).
  • Hắn quay lại với bộ mặt hung ác. (He turned around with a ferocious face.)
• Lòng dạ hung ác: A cruel heart/mind (describing a malicious nature).
  • Đừng tin lời kẻ có lòng dạ hung ác. (Do not trust the words of someone with a cruel heart.)

adj

1. cruel, ferocious, bnetal