lao khổ
Definition
- Adjective:
- Hard and miserable; arduous and wretched: Describes a state, condition, or life characterized by extreme physical hardship, toil, and suffering, often involving poverty and distress.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Cuộc đời lao khổ của người nông dân. (The hard and miserable life of the farmer.)
- Họ đã trải qua những năm tháng lao khổ. (They went through arduous and wretched years.)
- Công việc lao khổ trong hầm mỏ. (The arduous and wretched work in the mines.)
Advanced Usage
- The term "lao khổ" is often used in literary or formal contexts to evoke a strong sense of pity and the severe struggle associated with a life of poverty and relentless labor. It describes not just temporary difficulty but a prolonged, ingrained state of hardship.
Variants and Related Words
- Cực khổ (adj): extremely hard, full of hardship.
- Một cuộc sống cực khổ. (A life full of hardship.)
- Khổ cực (adj): difficult and painful, suffering.
- Lao động khổ cực. (Toil and suffering labor.)
- Vất vả (adj): hard, laborious, tough (can be slightly less intense than "lao khổ").
- Công việc vất vả. (Hard work.)
Synonyms
- Arduous: Involving strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.
- Wretched: In a state of deep misery or poverty.
- Miserable: Wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable.
Related Idioms
- Đồng bào lao khổ: A phrase meaning "the laboring and suffering compatriots," often used historically or rhetorically to refer to the impoverished working masses.
- Vì quyền lợi của đồng bào lao khổ. (For the rights of the laboring and suffering compatriots.)
adj
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hard and miserable
