Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Very limpid, crystal clear: Used primarily to describe water that is exceptionally clear and transparent, allowing one to see through it completely.
   • (Of speech) Glib, voluble, smooth-talking: Used to describe someone who talks a lot, very quickly, and in a slick or superficially fluent manner, often with a negative connotation of being insincere or shallow.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Describing water):
  • Nước suối trong leo lẻo. (The stream water is crystal clear.)
• Adjective (Describing speech):
  • Đứa trẻ đó nói leo lẻo như người lớn. (That child talks glibly like an adult.)
  • Anh ta chối leo lẻo mọi cáo buộc. (He glibly denied all accusations.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is often used in a reduplicative form for emphasis. It can describe an extreme state of clarity (for liquids) or an extreme, often annoying, state of verbal fluency.
• When describing speech, it implies the words flow too easily, suggesting a lack of thoughtfulness, depth, or honesty behind them.

Variants and Related Words

• Trong leo lẻo (phrase): An intensified phrase meaning "utterly transparent" or "crystal clear," almost exclusively for describing water or liquids.
  • Giếng nước trong leo lẻo. (The well water is perfectly clear.)

Synonyms

• For water: Crystal clear, limpid, transparent, pellucid.
• For speech: Glib, voluble, smooth-talking, fluent (in a negative sense), slick.

Related Idioms

• Nói leo lẻo: To talk glibly; to be a smooth talker.
  • Đừng nghe lời nó nói leo lẻo. (Don't listen to his glib talk.)
• Chối leo lẻo: To deny something glibly or fluently without hesitation.
  • Bị bắt quả tang, nó vẫn chối leo lẻo. (Caught red-handed, he still denied it glibly.)

adj

1. (of water) very limpid
   • nước trong leo lẻo
     very limpid water