Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Miserable, unhappy: Experiencing or showing deep distress, discomfort, or unhappiness, often due to difficult physical or emotional circumstances.
   • Suffering, distressed: Being in a state of hardship, pain, or affliction.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Ông ấy đã có một tuần làm việc rất khổ sở. (He had a very miserable week at work.)
  • Đứa trẻ trông thật khổ sở khi bị ốm. (The child looked truly distressed when sick.)
  • Cuộc sống của họ sau thiên tai vô cùng khổ sở. (Their life after the natural disaster was extremely full of suffering.)

Advanced Usage

• Used to describe a prolonged state of difficulty or hardship.
  • Năm tháng khổ sở cuối cùng cũng qua đi. (The miserable years finally passed.)

Variants and Related Words

• Khổ (adj): Suffering, bitter, difficult. A root word often implying hardship.

  • Công việc này thật khổ. (This work is truly hard.)

• Cực khổ (adj): Arduous, full of toil and hardship.

  • Người nông dân làm việc cực khổ. (The farmer works arduously.)

Synonyms

• Miserable: Wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable.
• Distressed: Suffering from anxiety, sorrow, or pain.
• Wretched: In a very unhappy or unfortunate state.

Related Idioms

• Khổ sở lắm mới nên người: (One must suffer much to become a person of worth.) Similar to "No pain, no gain."
  • Anh ấy tin vào câu "khổ sở lắm mới nên người". (He believes in the saying "one must suffer much to become a person of worth.")

adj

1. miserable, unhappy