Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Difficult to believe, unbelievable: Describes something that is so surprising, unusual, or extraordinary that it is hard to accept as true or real.
   • Incredible, astonishing: Expresses a sense of great wonder or amazement at something.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Câu chuyện của anh ấy thật khó tin. (His story is truly unbelievable.)
  • Đó là một kết quả khó tin đối với đội bóng nhỏ. (That was an incredible result for the small team.)
  • Tôi cảm thấy khó tin khi nghe tin đó. (I found it hard to believe when I heard that news.)

Advanced Usage

• "thật là khó tin": used for emphasis, meaning "it's truly unbelievable".
  • Thật là khó tin khi cô ấy đã hoàn thành công việc một mình. (It's truly incredible that she finished the work alone.)
• "đến mức khó tin": meaning "to an unbelievable extent/degree".
  • Cô ấy thông minh đến mức khó tin. (She is intelligent to an unbelievable degree.)

Variants and Related Words

• Khó (adj): difficult, hard. A component word meaning "difficult".
• Tin (v/n): to believe; news/faith. A component word meaning "to believe" or "news".
• Đáng tin (adj): credible, trustworthy. The opposite concept, meaning "believable".
• Hoang đường (adj): mythical, fantastical. Often used for things that are fantastical or legendary, sometimes overlapping with "unbelievable" in a more figurative sense.

Synonyms

• Không thể tin được: cannot be believed (a near-identical synonym).
• Lạ lùng: strange, odd (focuses more on strangeness than on disbelief).
• Kỳ diệu: miraculous, wonderful (focuses more on positive wonder).

Related Phrases

• Nghe khó tin: sounds unbelievable (often used when recounting information).
  • Nghe khó tin nhưng đó là sự thật. (It sounds unbelievable, but it's the truth.)
• Chuyện khó tin: an unbelievable story/tale.
  • Báo chí đăng đầy những chuyện khó tin. (The newspapers are full of unbelievable stories.)

Related Idioms

• Tin vịt: a false or fabricated news story (literally "duck news"). While not directly containing "khó tin", it describes information that is inherently unbelievable and false.
  • Đừng đọc tin đó, nó chỉ là tin vịt thôi. (Don't read that news, it's just fake news.)

1. Incredible