hôi dầu
Definition
- Adjective:
- Rancid, smelling/tasting of rancid oil: Describes a specific unpleasant smell or taste that occurs when fats or oils (especially cooking oils) have oxidized and spoiled. This is the primary and most common meaning.
- Having an unpleasant greasy smell: More broadly, can describe something that smells unpleasantly of stale oil or grease.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Dầu ăn để lâu ngày bắt đầu có mùi hôi dầu. (The cooking oil left for a long time has started to smell rancid.)
- Món khoai tây chiên này có vị hôi dầu, có lẽ dầu đã được dùng nhiều lần. (These french fries taste rancid; perhaps the oil has been reused many times.)
- Cái chảo này chưa rửa kỹ, vẫn còn mùi hôi dầu. (This frying pan isn't washed thoroughly; it still has a greasy, stale smell.)
Advanced Usage
- Used to describe non-food items: While primarily for food, it can metaphorically describe other things that have a similar stale, greasy odor.
- Chiếc áo bếp này ngửi thấy mùi hôi dầu. (This kitchen apron smells of rancid oil.)
Variants and Related Words
- Hôi (adj): Smelly, stinking. A more general term for bad smells.
- Dầu (n): Oil, grease. The source of the specific smell.
- Ôi (adj): Spoiled, rotten (often for proteins like meat/fish, or sometimes for fats). is a more precise term for spoiled fats/oils.
Synonyms
- Có mùi dầu mỡ ôi/khét: Smelling of rancid/burnt oil.
- Có vị dầu: Oily taste (can be neutral or negative depending on context).
Related Phrases/Idioms
- "Dầu ôi": This is a common phrase meaning "rancid oil" and is the direct cause of the smell/taste.
- Đừng dùng dầu ôi để nấu ăn. (Don't use rancid oil for cooking.)