lênh đênh
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective / Verb:
- Floating adrift; drifting: Describes something, typically a boat or vessel, floating on water without a fixed direction or mooring, carried by currents or waves.
- Unsettled; rootless; precarious: Describes a state of life, existence, or situation that is unstable, without a fixed place or resolution, moving from one place or circumstance to another.
Usage Examples
- Adjective / Verb:
- Con thuyền lênh đênh trên mặt biển. (The boat drifts on the sea surface.)
- Cuộc đời anh ấy lênh đênh nay đây mai đó. (His life is rootless, here today and gone tomorrow.)
- Công việc ấy vẫn còn lênh đênh, chưa có kết quả cuối cùng. (That matter is still up in the air, without a final result.)
Advanced Usage
- Used poetically or figuratively to evoke a sense of melancholy, transience, or lack of control over one's destiny.
- Số phận lênh đênh. (A drifting fate.)
Variants and Related Words
- Chìm nổi (adj): Literally "sinking and floating," used together with "lênh đênh" to emphasize a life full of ups and downs and instability.
- Cuộc sống lênh đênh chìm nổi. (A life of drifting and uncertainty.)
Synonyms
- Adrift: Floating without being steered or anchored.
- Drifting: Moving aimlessly.
- Unsettled: Not fixed or stable.
- Rootless: Having no settled home or base.
Related Idioms
- Lênh đênh sông nước: To drift on rivers and waters; often describes the life of boat people or those living on waterways.
- Một kiếp người lênh đênh sông nước. (A life spent drifting on the rivers and waters.)