Definition

Adjective: - Honest; upright; having integrity: Possessing the quality of being morally pure, not corrupt, and not seeking to appropriate public funds or accept bribes. It describes a person with a clean character, especially in official or professional duties.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Ông ấy là một công chức liêm khiết. (He is an honest civil servant.)
  • Chúng ta cần tôn vinh những người sống liêm khiết. (We need to honor those who live with integrity.)
  • Đức tính liêm khiết rất đáng quý. (The virtue of uprightness is very precious.)

Advanced Usage

• "sống liêm khiết": to live an honest/upright life.
  • Dù nghèo nhưng ông ấy vẫn sống liêm khiết. (Although poor, he still lives an honest life.)
• "con người liêm khiết": an honest/upright person.
  • Mọi người đều kính trọng ông ấy vì ông là một con người liêm khiết. (Everyone respects him because he is an upright person.)

Variants and Related Words

• Liêm chính (adj): Incorruptible, upright. Often used in formal or political contexts.
  • một chính phủ liêm chính (an incorruptible government)
• Liêm (adj): A root morpheme meaning honest, incorruptible. Often found in compound words.
  • thanh liêm (honest and pure)
  • liêm sỉ (sense of shame and integrity)

Synonyms

• Trung thực (adj): Honest, truthful. (Focuses more on truthfulness than on resistance to corruption.)
• Ngay thẳng (adj): Straightforward, upright. (Emphasizes moral rectitude and directness.)
• Chính trực (adj): Righteous, just. (Often implies adherence to principles of justice.)

Related Idioms

• "Ăn ngay ở lành": To live righteously and do good. This idiom conveys a similar idea of living an honest and virtuous life, though it is broader than the specific official context of "liêm khiết".
  • Bà cụ cả đời ăn ngay ở lành. (The old woman lived righteously and did good all her life.)

adj

1. honest; upright; honest