Definition

Noun: * A person in extreme poverty; a destitute person; a pauper: "khố dây" refers to someone who is extremely poor, lacking basic necessities, and often living in miserable conditions. The term carries a strong connotation of hardship and wretchedness.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Sau trận lũ, nhiều gia đình trở thành khố dây. (After the flood, many families became destitute.)
  • Ông ấy thương xót những khố dây ngoài phố. (He took pity on the paupers on the street.)
  • Câu chuyện kể về cuộc đời của một khố dây. (The story tells the life of a wretch.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "khố dây" is considered quite strong and somewhat archaic or literary in modern Vietnamese. It is used to emphasize extreme, pitiable poverty and is not a neutral term.
• It can be used metaphorically to describe something as being in a very poor or pitiful state, though this is less common.

Variants and Related Words

• Khốn khổ (adj): Miserable, wretched, distressed. Describes a state of suffering or hardship.
  • Cuộc sống khốn khổ. (A wretched life.)
• Kẻ ăn mày (n): Beggar. Specifically refers to someone who begs for money or food.
• Người nghèo khổ (n): Poor person, destitute person. A more standard and common phrase.

Synonyms

• Kẻ bần cùng: A destitute person, a pauper.
• Kẻ khốn nạn: A wretch, a miserable person (can also imply contempt).
• Traîne-misère (French loanword, rare): A pauper, a wretch.

Related Idioms

• Nghèo rớt mồng tơi / Nghèo xác xơ: (Idioms) To be dirt poor, to be penniless. These are more common modern idioms for extreme poverty.
  • Nhà họ nghèo xác xơ. (Their family is dirt poor.)