Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Too familiar; disrespectful: Describes behavior that shows a lack of proper respect, often due to becoming overly accustomed to someone or a situation, leading to presumptuous or insolent conduct.
   • Worn; stripped (primarily in mechanical contexts): Describes a part, such as a screw thread, that has become worn down and no longer grips properly.

2. Verb (in the variant form lởn vởn):

   • To haunt; to linger around: To appear or remain in a place persistently like a ghost, or to loiter around without a clear purpose.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (disrespectful):

  • Đứa trẻ đó hơi lờn với người lớn. (That child is a bit disrespectful toward adults.)
  • Nhân viên tỏ ra lờn vì sếp quá dễ tính. (The employee acts disrespectful because the boss is too easygoing.)

• Adjective (worn):

  • Con ốc bị lờn ren, vặn không chặt. (The screw thread is stripped; it won't tighten.)

• Verb (lởn vởn):

  • Bóng ma lởn vởn trong căn nhà cũ. (A ghost haunts the old house.)
  • Anh ta cứ lởn vởn ở đây làm gì? (Why does he keep lingering around here?)

Advanced Usage

• The adjective lờn often implies a process where initial respect or fear erodes over time due to excessive familiarity or leniency.
• The mechanical usage is technical and specific to objects where friction or grip is lost.

Variants and Related Words

• Nhờn: A more common synonym in the Northern dialect for the "disrespectful" meaning.

  • Nó ăn nói nhờn với thầy giáo. (He speaks disrespectfully to the teacher.)

• Lờn mặt: An idiom meaning to become contemptuous or lose respect for someone due to familiarity.

  • Đừng để chúng nó lờn mặt. (Don't let them become contemptuous/disrespectful.)

Synonyms

• Disrespectful: Showing a lack of respect.
• Familiar: Unduly informal or presumptuous.
• Worn-down: Reduced in effectiveness due to wear (for objects).
• To haunt: To appear as a ghost (for lởn vởn).

Related Idioms

• Lờn mặt: To become contemptuous or lose respect.

  • Cho qua nhiều lần, nó sẽ lờn mặt. (Let it slide too many times, and they will become contemptuous.)

• Lờn thuốc (often nhờn thuốc): To become drug-resistant.

  • Vi khuẩn đã lờn thuốc kháng sinh. (The bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics.)

adj

1. too familiar; disrespectful
   • lởn vởn
     to be haunted