hôi tanh
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definitions
- Adjective:
- Stinking, foul-smelling: Describes something that emits a very unpleasant, offensive odor, often a combination of rotten and fishy smells.
- Ignoble, mean, base, despicable: Used figuratively to describe a person's character, actions, or nature that is morally low, vile, or contemptible.
Usage Examples
Adjective (Literal - Foul smell):
- Cá để lâu bắt đầu hôi tanh. (The fish left out too long is starting to stink.)
- Mùi hôi tanh từ cống rãnh. (The foul stench from the sewer.)
Adjective (Figurative - Despicable character):
- Hắn ta là một kẻ hôi tanh, không đáng tin. (He is a despicable person, not worthy of trust.)
- Những hành động hôi tanh đó đã bị lên án. (Those vile actions have been condemned.)
Advanced Usage
- "giống hôi tanh": An ignoble/despicable breed/type (of person). This is a classic, often literary, phrase used to strongly condemn a person's lowly or corrupt nature.
- Bọn buôn người là giống hôi tanh của xã hội. (Human traffickers are the despicable scum of society.)
Variants and Related Words
- Hôi (adj): Smelly, stinking. Often used alone for a bad smell.
- Tanh (adj): Having a fishy or metallic smell/taste. Often used alone.
- Hôi thối (adj): Rottenly stinking, putrid. Emphasizes a decay-related stench.
- Đê hèn (adj): Mean, base, lowly. A direct synonym for the figurative meaning.
- Nhơ nhuốc (adj): Filthy, soiled (morally). A synonym for the figurative meaning.
Synonyms
- Bốc mùi: To reek, to smell bad.
- Thối tha: Putrid, rotten-smelling.
- Ti tiện: Petty, mean, base.
- Đốn mạt: Degenerate, depraved.
Related Phrases
- Hành động hôi tanh: A vile/despicable action.
- Con người hôi tanh: A vile/contemptible person.
Related Idioms
- "Hôi như cú": As smelly as an owl (a folk simile for something very smelly). This idiom relates to the literal meaning.
- The phrase "giống hôi tanh" itself can be considered a fixed idiomatic expression for condemning someone's base nature.
- Stinking
- Ignoble, mean, base
- Giống hôi tanhAn ignoble breed