Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Smeared or soiled (with mud or dirt): Describes something, typically clothing or a surface, that has become dirty or stained, especially with wet earth, mud, or similar substances.
   • Covered in spots or patches of dirt: Indicates a state of being partially or thoroughly dirtied.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Áo em bé bị lấm bùn. (The baby's clothes are smeared with mud.)
  • Sau trận mưa, con đường đất trở nên lấm bét. (After the rain, the dirt road became muddy and soiled.)
  • Tay nó lấm đầy mực. (His hands are all smudged with ink.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is often used in its reduplicated forms for emphasis, describing a more extensive or severe state of being soiled.
  • lấm bấm: slightly smudged or dotted with small spots of dirt.

    • Mặt nó lấm bấm những tàn nhang. (Her face is dotted with freckles.)
  • lấm lem: smeared or streaked messily, often with dirt, paint, or food.

    • Đứa trẻ ăn sô cô la xong mặt mũi lấm lem. (The child's face was smeared with chocolate after eating.)
  • lấm tấm: describes something sprinkled or dotted with many small spots (can refer to light rain, freckles, or small stains).

    • Trời mưa lấm tấm. (It's drizzling.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lấm bùn (adj): specifically mud-smeared.
  • Quần áo lấm bùn sau buổi chơi đá bóng. (Clothes were mud-smeared after the soccer game.)
• Lấm đất (adj): specifically soiled with dirt/earth.
  • Hạt giống lấm đất. (The seed is coated with soil.)

Synonyms

• Soiled: made dirty.
• Smeared: spread a substance messily over a surface.
• Stained: marked or discolored.
• Bedaubed: coated or smeared thickly.

Related Idioms

• Lấm la lấm lét: to look around furtively or shiftily, often with a guilty or sneaky expression. (Note: This idiom uses "lấm" for its sound, relating more to the action of glancing than to dirt.)
  • Thằng bé lấm la lấm lét nhìn quanh. (The boy glanced around furtively.)
• Lấm be lấm bét / Lấm ba lấm bét: to be utterly filthy or caked with mud from head to toe.
  • Ngã xuống vũng nước, nó bị lấm be lấm bét. (Falling into the puddle, he got completely caked in mud.)