lỗi đạo

Definition
  1. Noun:
    • A breach of moral or filial duty: A failure to fulfill one's fundamental ethical or religious obligations, especially those within a family or societal hierarchy. It implies a transgression against established principles of proper conduct.
    • Unfilial behavior: Specifically refers to a child's failure to fulfill their duties of respect, obedience, and care towards their parents, which is considered a serious moral failing.
Usage Examples
  • Noun:
    • Bị coi là mắc lỗi đạo làm con, anh ta cảm thấy rất xấu hổ. (Being considered guilty of unfilial behavior, he felt deeply ashamed.)
    • Trong quan niệm xưa, việc không phụng dưỡng cha mẹ già là một lỗi đạo lớn. (In traditional belief, not supporting one's elderly parents is a major breach of filial duty.)
Advanced Usage
  • The term is strongly associated with Confucian values and traditional Vietnamese family ethics. It carries a heavy moral and social weight, often implying not just a personal failing but an offense against the natural order.
  • It can be used in a broader, though less common, sense to describe failing in one's duty within other hierarchical relationships (e.g., a subject to a ruler, a student to a teacher).
Variants and Related Words
  • Bất hiếu (adj/n): Unfilial; a more direct and common synonym for the specific meaning of failing in one's duty to parents.
    • Hành động bất hiếu đó bị mọi người lên án. (That unfilial action was condemned by everyone.)
  • Thất đức (v/n): To act immorally; to lose one's virtue. This is a broader term for unethical behavior.
  • Tội lỗi (n): Sin, guilt, wrongdoing. A general term for a transgression.
Synonyms
  • Breach of duty
  • Unfilial conduct/behavior
  • Moral transgression (in the specific context of familial/social duty)
Related Concepts
  • Đạo làm con: The way of being a child; filial piety. Lỗi đạo is the failure to follow this "way."
  • Hiếu thảo (adj): Filial; pious. This is the positive quality opposite to lỗi đạo.