Definition

1. Verb:
   • To follow someone persistently, to hover around someone: To move around or stay near a person in a constant, often annoying or clingy manner.
   • To go around in circles, to be stuck in a repetitive loop (of thoughts, actions): To be trapped in a cycle of repetitive thoughts or actions without making progress or finding a solution. This meaning is very close to and often interchangeable with "luẩn quẩn".

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Đứa trẻ cứ lẩn quẩn bên chân mẹ. (The child kept hovering around his mother's feet.)
  • Anh ta lẩn quẩn trong công viên suốt buổi chiều. (He lingered around the park all afternoon.)
  • Tôi không thể ngừng suy nghĩ về vấn đề đó, đầu óc cứ lẩn quẩn mãi. (I can't stop thinking about that problem; my mind keeps going around in circles.)
  • Câu chuyện của họ toàn là những lời lẩn quẩn, không đi đến đâu cả. (Their conversation was just beating around the bush, going nowhere.)

Advanced Usage

• "Đầu óc lẩn quẩn": A mind stuck in a loop.

  • Sau thất bại, đầu óc anh ấy cứ lẩn quẩn với những ý nghĩ tiêu cực. (After the failure, his mind was stuck in a loop of negative thoughts.)

• "Lẩn quẩn trong căn phòng": To pace around restlessly in a room.

  • Cô ấy lẩn quẩn trong căn phòng chờ tin tức. (She paced around the room waiting for news.)

Variants and Related Words

• Luẩn quẩn (verb): This is a very close synonym, almost identical in meaning, emphasizing a circular, trapped, or repetitive state, especially for thoughts or situations.

  • Vấn đề cứ luẩn quẩn mãi không giải quyết được. (The problem keeps going in circles without being resolved.)

• Quẩn quanh (verb): To hang around, to linger in an area. It can imply a lack of purpose or direction.

  • Nó chỉ quẩn quanh trong nhà cả ngày. (He just hangs around the house all day.)

Synonyms

• Theo đuôi (verb): To tail, to follow closely (often literally behind someone).
• Vấn vương (verb): To linger, to be attached to (often used for feelings or memories).
• Loanh quanh (verb): To hang around, to mill about (focuses more on physical movement within an area).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Lẩn quẩn bên (ai/cái gì): To hover around (someone/something).
  • Con chó cứ lẩn quẩn bên bàn ăn. (The dog kept hovering around the dining table.)

Related Idioms

• Lẩn quẩn như thịt nấu đông: To be stuck going in circles (like meat in aspic—a dish where ingredients are suspended). This idiom vividly describes a state of being trapped in a static, repetitive situation.

  • Dự án này lẩn quẩn như thịt nấu đông, chẳng tiến tới đâu. (This project is stuck going in circles, making no progress.)

• Nói lẩn quẩn: To speak in a roundabout way, to beat around the bush.

  • Đừng nói lẩn quẩn nữa, hãy đi thẳng vào vấn đề đi. (Stop beating around the bush; get straight to the point.)

verb

1. to follow; to hover
   • lẩn quẩn bên mình người nào
     to follow someone about,to beat about the bush