Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Hanging; suspended in mid-air: Describes something physically floating or dangling in the air without clear support or a fixed position.
   • Vague; ambiguous; non-committal: Describes speech, an answer, or a situation that is intentionally unclear, imprecise, or evasive, leaving matters unresolved or undecided.

2. Adjective (figurative):

   • In an intermediate or indeterminate state: Describes something being in a middle, unresolved, or limbo state, neither here nor there.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Physical):

  • Những đám mây lửng lơ trên đỉnh núi. (Clouds hang suspended over the mountain peak.)
  • Chiếc diều bay lửng lơ giữa trời. (The kite floats in mid-air.)

• Adjective (Abstract):

  • Anh ấy trả lời một cách lửng lơ, không khẳng định cũng không phủ định. (He answered vaguely, neither confirming nor denying.)
  • Tình cảnh của dự án vẫn còn lửng lơ. (The project's situation remains up in the air.)

Advanced Usage

• The word often carries a connotation of uncertainty, instability, or a lack of firm grounding, whether in a physical or abstract sense.
• It can describe a psychological state of being undecided or wavering.

Variants and Related Words

• Lơ lửng (adj): Similar meaning of hanging or floating. Often used more for physical suspension.
  • Quả bóng bay lơ lửng trong phòng. (The balloon floats in the room.)

Synonyms

• Hanging: Suspended from above.
• Vague: Not clearly expressed or defined.
• Ambiguous: Open to more than one interpretation.
• Non-committal: Avoiding a clear statement or decision.
• Indeterminate: Not exactly known, established, or defined.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Nói lửng lơ: To speak in vague terms; to be evasive.

  • Đừng nói lửng lơ, hãy cho tôi câu trả lời rõ ràng. (Don't be vague, give me a clear answer.)

• Để lửng lơ: To leave something hanging or unresolved.

  • Họ để câu chuyện lửng lơ mà không kết thúc. (They left the story hanging without an ending.)

adj

1. pendent; hanging