lơ lửng

Cái diều lơ lửng ở giữa trời.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Hovering, suspended in mid-air: Describes something floating or hanging in the air without a clear point of support, not moving decisively up or down.
   • Unsettled, pending, unresolved: Describes a state of indecision, uncertainty, or a matter that has not been concluded or finalized.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Chiếc lá khô lơ lửng trên không trung. (The dry leaf was hovering in the air.)
  • Vụ án đó vẫn còn lơ lửng, chưa có kết luận cuối cùng. (That case is still pending, without a final conclusion.)
  • Anh ấy trả lời một cách lơ lửng, không dứt khoát. (He answered in an indecisive, non-committal way.)

Advanced Usage

• "để lơ lửng": to leave (a matter) hanging, unresolved.

  • Đừng để vấn đề này lơ lửng mãi. (Don't leave this issue unresolved forever.)

• "cảm giác lơ lửng": a feeling of suspension or unreality (e.g., due to surprise or shock).

  • Nghe tin đó, tôi có cảm giác lơ lửng như không thật. (Hearing that news, I had an unreal, floating feeling.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lửng lơ (adj): A near-synonym, often used interchangeably with 'lơ lửng' to describe something hanging or a state of indecision. It can sometimes imply a lighter, more casual sense of suspension.

  • Chiếc bóng bay lửng lơ trên cao. (The balloon floated lightly up high.)

• Chơi vơi (adj): Emphasizes a sense of being adrift, isolated, or insecure, often emotionally. It is related but stronger in conveying loneliness or vulnerability than the physical suspension of 'lơ lửng'.

  • Cô ấy cảm thấy chơi vơi nơi đất khách. (She felt adrift in a foreign land.)

Synonyms

• Bập bềnh: Bobbing, floating (on water). Used for a different medium but shares the concept of unstable positioning.
• Chưa ngã ngũ: Undecided, unsettled (for matters). A more colloquial synonym for the unresolved sense.
• Do dự: Hesitant. Focuses on the indecision aspect.

Related Idioms

• Lơ lửng như diều đứt dây: Hovering/floating like a kite with a cut string. Describes something or someone adrift without control or direction.

  • Sau khi mất việc, anh ta cảm thấy lơ lửng như diều đứt dây. (After losing his job, he felt adrift like a kite with a cut string.)

• Đầu voi đuôi chuột: Literally "elephant's head, mouse's tail"; a promising start but a weak, unresolved ending. This idiom relates to the "unresolved" sense of 'lơ lửng' in the context of an unsatisfactory conclusion.

  • Dự án đó thật là đầu voi đuôi chuột. (That project had a grand start but a pitiful end.)