Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Terrible, dreadful, horrifying: Describes something that causes extreme fear, shock, or disgust due to its intensity, severity, or awful nature.
   • Extreme, tremendous: Can also describe something of a very high degree or intensity, often in a negative sense.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cơn bão đó thật kinh khiếp. (That storm was truly terrible.)
  • Tôi nghe thấy một tiếng động kinh khiếp. (I heard a horrifying sound.)
  • Cô ấy có một nỗi sợ kinh khiếp về độ cao. (She has a tremendous fear of heights.)

Advanced Usage

• "kinh khiếp" as an intensifier: Used colloquially to emphasize a negative quality to an extreme degree.
  • Thời tiết hôm nay nóng kinh khiếp. (The weather today is terribly/extremely hot.)
• "một cách kinh khiếp": Used as an adverbial phrase meaning "terribly" or "horribly".
  • Chiếc xe bị hư hỏng một cách kinh khiếp sau vụ tai nạn. (The car was terribly damaged after the accident.)

Variants and Related Words

• Kinh hãi (verb/adjective): To be terrified; terrifying. Focuses more on the feeling of terror.
  • Cảnh tượng làm tôi kinh hãi. (The sight terrified me.)
• Kinh dị (adjective): Horrific, macabre. Often used for things that are grotesque or belong to the horror genre.
  • một bộ phim kinh dị (a horror film)
• Kinh khủng (adjective): Awful, horrible, dreadful. A very common near-synonym.
  • một vụ tai nạn kinh khủng (an awful accident)

Synonyms

• Khủng khiếp: Awful, horrendous. Very similar in meaning and usage.
• Dễ sợ: Frightening, scary.
• Ghê rợn: Creepy, gruesome.

Related Phrases

• Khiếp (interjection/adjective): An exclamation of fear ("Yikes!") or a standalone adjective meaning "scary".
  • Khiếp quá! (How terrifying!)
• Kinh thiên động địa: An idiom meaning "earth-shattering" or "shocking to heaven and earth," describing something immensely shocking or powerful.

1. (ít dùng) Terrible