Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Hard labour; penal servitude: Refers to extremely hard, exhausting physical work imposed as a punishment, especially on prisoners or convicts in colonial or penal systems.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Họ bị kết án khổ sai. (They were sentenced to hard labour.)
  • Chế độ thực dân áp dụng hình phạt khổ sai. (The colonial regime applied the punishment of penal servitude.)

Advanced Usage

• "khổ sai chung thân": penal servitude for life; a sentence of hard labour for the rest of one's life.
  • Bản án khổ sai chung thân là hình phạt nặng nhất thời đó. (A sentence of penal servitude for life was the heaviest punishment at that time.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lao động khổ sai (noun phrase): forced hard labour. This is a common compound phrase where "khổ sai" functions adjectivally.
  • Lao động khổ sai trong các trại cải tạo. (Forced hard labour in re-education camps.)

Synonyms

• Tù khổ sai (noun phrase): convict sentenced to hard labour.
• Lao dịch (noun): corvée; compulsory labour (often for the state, historically). While similar, "lao dịch" is not exclusively a judicial punishment.

Notes on Meaning

• The term "khổ sai" is strongly associated with historical contexts, particularly the French colonial period in Vietnam, where it was a formal judicial punishment involving forced, grueling work.
• It conveys a sense of extreme hardship, suffering, and punitive forced labor beyond ordinary prison sentences.

adj

1. hard labour; penal servitude
   • hình phạt khổ sai chung thân
     penal servitude for life