Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Desperately poor; in great want: Describes a state of extreme poverty or financial hardship where one has exhausted all means of coping or finding a solution.
   • In dire straits; in distress: Refers to a situation of severe difficulty or trouble, often encompassing both material lack and mental anguish.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Gia đình anh ấy đang lâm vào cảnh khốn quẫn. (His family has fallen into a state of desperate poverty.)
  • Sau trận dịch, nhiều người buôn bán nhỏ trở nên khốn quẫn. (After the pandemic, many small traders became desperately poor.)
  • Họ cảm thấy vô cùng khốn quẫn vì không có lối thoát. (They felt utterly in dire straits because there was no way out.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "khốn quẫn" often implies a prolonged, entrenched state of hardship that affects one's ability to find a way out. It is stronger than simply being poor () and carries a connotation of being trapped in that condition.

Variants and Related Words

• Khốn khổ (adj): Miserable, wretched; often focuses more on general suffering and misfortune.
  • Cuộc sống khốn khổ của những người vô gia cư. (The wretched life of the homeless.)
• Túng quẫn (adj): Hard up, in financial difficulties; a close synonym, sometimes used interchangeably with .
  • Công ty đang trong thời kỳ túng quẫn. (The company is in a period of being hard up.)

Synonyms

• Destitute: Lacking the means to provide for oneself.
• Penniless: Having no money.
• Impoverished: Reduced to poverty.
• In dire straits: In a very difficult and worrying situation.

Related Idioms

• Đường cùng khốn quẫn: A dead end of utter desperation.
  • Họ đã đi đến đường cùng khốn quẫn. (They have reached a dead end of utter desperation.)
• Khốn đốn khốn quẫn: An intensified phrase emphasizing extreme hardship and distress.
  • Năm đói, dân làng sống trong cảnh khốn đốn khốn quẫn. (During the famine year, the villagers lived in a state of extreme hardship and distress.)

1. Desperately poor, In great want