Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Hard; austere: Describes a life, condition, or period characterized by severe simplicity, a lack of comfort, and the endurance of hardship and deprivation.
   • Miserable; destitute: Refers to a state of extreme poverty or wretchedness, marked by severe lack and suffering.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Thời sinh viên của anh ấy thật kham khổ. (His student days were truly austere.)
  • Gia đình họ sống một cuộc sống kham khổ ở vùng núi. (His family lives a hard life in the mountainous region.)
  • Ăn uống kham khổ. (To be on short commons / To have meager meals.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often describes not just a temporary state but a sustained period of enduring difficulty, such as a kham khổ childhood or a kham khổ journey.
• It can be used to emphasize resilience, implying that someone endures () a kham khổ situation stoically.

Variants and Related Words

• Khổ cực (adj): arduous, full of toil and hardship. Often used interchangeably with , but can imply more active physical labor.
• Thiếu thốn (adj): lacking, in a state of need or shortage. This is a key component of the meaning of .
• Nghèo khó (adj): poor, impoverished. Focuses more on material poverty.

Synonyms

• Austerity: a state of severe simplicity.
• Hardship: severe suffering or privation.
• Destitution: extreme poverty.
• Privation: a state in which life's basic necessities are lacking.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Kham khổ dành dụm: to live austerely in order to save money.
  • Bà ấy kham khổ dành dụm cho con ăn học. (She lived austerely and saved for her children's education.)
• Quen đời kham khổ: to be accustomed to a life of hardship.
  • Người nông dân ấy đã quen đời kham khổ. (That farmer is accustomed to a life of hardship.)

adj

1. hard; austere
   • ăn uống kham khổ
     to be on short commons