hẩm hút tương rau
Definition
- Adjective:
- Extremely poor and destitute: Describes a state of severe poverty and hardship, often implying a lack of basic necessities and a bleak, difficult life.
- Shabby and impoverished: Refers to a condition or appearance that is wretched, run-down, and indicative of great poverty.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Gia đình họ sống trong cảnh hẩm hút tương rau. (Their family lives in a state of utter destitution.)
- Sau trận lũ, làng quê trông thật hẩm hút tương rau. (After the flood, the village looked truly shabby and impoverished.)
Advanced Usage
- This phrase is highly evocative and literary. It is often used to paint a vivid, somber picture of poverty in descriptive writing or storytelling, rather than in casual conversation.
Variants and Related Words
- Nghèo khó (adj): poor, needy.
- Họ là một gia đình nghèo khó. (They are a poor family.)
- Cùng cực (adj): destitute, in extreme poverty.
- Cuộc sống cùng cực khiến họ kiệt sức. (A destitute life exhausted them.)
- Túng thiếu (adj): in want, lacking necessities.
- Họ lâm vào cảnh túng thiếu. (They fell into a state of want.)
Synonyms
- Destitute: lacking the means of subsistence.
- Impoverished: reduced to poverty.
- Wretched: in a very unhappy or unfortunate state.
Related Idioms
- Nghèo rớt mồng tơi: to be dirt-poor.
- Nhà họ nghèo rớt mồng tơi. (Their family is dirt-poor.)
- Cơm không lành, canh không ngọt: a life lacking even basic comforts (lit. rice isn't wholesome, soup isn't tasty).
- Cuộc sống cơm không lành, canh không ngọt. (A life lacking even basic comforts.)