Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Poverty-stricken, destitute: Describes a state of extreme poverty and material deprivation.
   • Miserable, wretched, in dire straits: Describes a state of great unhappiness, suffering, or difficulty.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Gia đình họ sống trong cảnh khốn đốn sau trận lũ. (Their family lived in a poverty-stricken/miserable state after the flood.)
  • Công việc ấy khiến anh ta trở nên khốn đốn cả về thể xác lẫn tinh thần. (That job made him physically and mentally wretched.)
  • Làm công khốn đốn lắm mới kiếm được hai bữa ăn. (To work as a hired hand in miserable circumstances and earn only enough for two meals a day.)

Advanced Usage

• "lâm vào cảnh khốn đốn": to fall into a state of destitution/misery.
  • Sau khi công ty phá sản, ông ấy lâm vào cảnh khốn đốn. (After his company went bankrupt, he fell into a state of destitution.)
• "khốn đốn trăm bề": to be beset by difficulties on all sides, in a truly wretched state.
  • Năm đó hạn hán, mất mùa, dân làng khốn đốn trăm bề. (That year, with drought and crop failure, the villagers were beset by difficulties on all sides.)

Variants and Related Words

• Khốn khổ (adj): miserable, wretched, distressed. Often used interchangeably with "khốn đốn" but can sometimes emphasize emotional suffering.
  • Cuộc sống khốn khổ của những đứa trẻ mồ côi. (The miserable life of orphaned children.)
• Khốn nạn (adj): wretched, despicable, base. This term is stronger and often implies moral condemnation or extreme contempt.
  • Tên khốn nạn đó đã lừa gạt một bà già. (That despicable man swindled an old woman.)
• Cùng khốn (adj): destitute, in extreme poverty. Focuses heavily on the material aspect of poverty.
  • Những người cùng khốn nhất trong xã hội. (The most destitute people in society.)

Synonyms

• Khổ sở: miserable, suffering (often from hardship).
• Cơ cực: extremely hard and miserable (life/conditions).
• Lầm than: miserable, living in hardship and sorrow (often used for a collective).

Related Idioms

• "Khốn đốn như chó chui gầm chạn": As wretched as a dog crawling under a kitchen shelf. (An idiom depicting extreme misery and lowly status.)
  • Sau trận hỏa hoạn, cả nhà khốn đốn như chó chui gầm chạn. (After the fire, the whole family was as wretched as a dog crawling under a kitchen shelf.)
• "Khốn đốn tận mạng": To be utterly and completely miserable/destitute.
  • Cứ mắc nợ mãi, rồi sẽ khốn đốn tận mạng. (If you keep getting into debt, you'll end up utterly destitute.)

1. Poverty-stricken, miserable
   • Làm công khốn đốn lắm mới kiếm được hai bữa ăn
     To work as a hired hand in miserable circumstances and earn only enough for two meals a day