Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Very poor, in very reduced circumstances, destitute: "khốn khó" describes a state of extreme poverty or hardship, where one lacks basic necessities and lives in difficult conditions.
   • Miserable, wretched: It can also convey a sense of misery and suffering resulting from poverty and misfortune.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Gia đình họ rơi vào cảnh khốn khó sau trận lũ. (Their family fell into destitution after the flood.)
  • Dù sống trong khốn khó, bà ấy luôn lạc quan. (Even living in wretched poverty, she is always optimistic.)
  • Câu chuyện về những mảnh đời khốn khó khiến tôi xúc động. (The story of those living in misery moved me.)

Advanced Usage

• "cảnh khốn khó": a state of destitution, a plight of poverty.
  • Anh ấy đã vươn lên từ cảnh khốn khó. (He rose up from a state of destitution.)
• "kiếp khốn khó": a wretched/destitute life.
  • Ông già đã trải qua một kiếp khốn khó. (The old man went through a wretched life.)

Variants and Related Words

• Khốn nạn (adj): Wretched, miserable (often with a stronger moral connotation of being despicable or base).
  • Tên khốn nạn đó đã lừa người già. (That wretched scoundrel cheated the elderly.)
• Khốn cùng (adj): Utterly destitute, in extreme poverty (similar to "khốn khó" but often implies the absolute lowest point).
  • Họ đã bị đẩy đến bước đường khốn cùng. (They were driven to utter destitution.)
• Nghèo khó (adj): Poor, impoverished (a more general term for poverty).
  • Vùng quê nghèo khó cần sự hỗ trợ. (The impoverished rural area needs support.)

Synonyms

• Nghèo túng: Impoverished, in financial straits.
• Bần cùng: Destitute, penurious.
• Cùng khổ: Miserable, suffering from poverty.

Related Phrases

• Khốn khổ (adj): Distressed, miserable (focuses more on suffering and hardship, which can be emotional or physical, not solely financial).
  • Người mẹ khốn khổ tìm con khắp nơi. (The distressed mother searched everywhere for her child.)
• Lâm vào cảnh khốn khó: To fall into destitution.
  • Công ty phá sản khiến họ lâm vào cảnh khốn khó. (The company's bankruptcy caused them to fall into destitution.)

Related Idioms

• "Khốn khó dễ đổi trắng thay đen": Poverty can easily make one compromise their morals (literally: Destitution easily changes white to black). This idiom warns that extreme hardship can lead people to act against their principles.
  • Phải cẩn thận, khốn khó dễ đổi trắng thay đen. (Be careful, poverty can easily make one compromise their morals.)

1. In very reduced circumstances, very poor
   • Trong cảnh khốn khó mà vẫn giữ được tư cách con người
     To keep one's human dignity even in very reduced circumstances