Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Gaudy red; lurid red; intensely and unpleasantly bright red: Describes a red color that is excessively bright, flashy, and often considered tasteless or overwhelming to the eye. It implies a harsh, glaring shade of red.

Usage Notes

• The word "loẹt" is almost never used alone in modern Vietnamese. It is primarily found in the fixed compound "đỏ loẹt".
• It functions as an adjective that intensifies and modifies the color red ("đỏ"), adding a strong negative connotation of being garish, vulgar, or excessively bright.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (in the compound "đỏ loẹt"):
  • Cô ấy mặc chiếc váy đỏ loẹt trông rất lòe loẹt. (She wore a gaudy red dress that looked very flashy.)
  • Màu sơn đỏ loẹt của căn nhà ấy chói cả mắt. (The lurid red paint color of that house is dazzling to the eyes.)

Advanced Usage

• As noted, "loẹt" is a bound morpheme. Its usage is confined to the specific idiom "đỏ loẹt". Other colors do not typically combine with "loẹt".

Variants and Related Words

• Đỏ loẹt (adj): Gaudy red, lurid red. This is the standard and almost exclusive form in which "loẹt" appears.
• Lòe loẹt (adj): Flashy, garish, showy in a tasteless way (often describing style or appearance, not just color). This is a separate, more common word that shares a similar sound and negative connotation.

Synonyms

• Garish: Obtrusively bright and showy.
• Lurid: Unpleasantly bright in color, especially so as to create a harsh or unnatural effect.
• Gaudy: Extravagantly bright or showy, typically so as to be tasteless.

Related Idioms

• Đỏ loẹt: The primary and essential idiom containing this word. It is used to criticize something for being an excessively bright, unpleasant, or tacky shade of red.
  • Trang điểm đỏ loẹt (To wear gaudy red makeup)
  • Ánh đèn neon đỏ loẹt (The lurid red neon light)