Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Fertile, rich (of soil): Describes land or soil that contains abundant nutrients, is productive, and suitable for growing crops.
   • Lush, abundant: Describes something that is rich, plentiful, or highly productive in a figurative sense.
   • Flashy, superficially attractive (rare, idiomatic): Describes something that appears attractive or impressive on the surface but lacks substance or truth.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Vùng đồng bằng này có đất đai rất màu mỡ. (This delta region has very fertile land.)
  • Nhờ đất màu mỡ, nông dân thu hoạch được nhiều lúa. (Thanks to the fertile soil, farmers harvest a lot of rice.)
  • Trí tưởng tượng của đứa trẻ thật màu mỡ. (The child's imagination is truly rich/lush.)
  • Lời hứa của anh ta nghe có vẻ màu mỡ, nhưng đừng tin. (His promises sound flashy, but don't believe them.)

Advanced Usage

• "đất màu mỡ": fertile land/soil. This is the most common and literal collocation.
  • Họ tìm kiếm một mảnh đất màu mỡ để canh tác. (They are looking for a piece of fertile land to cultivate.)
• "màu mỡ hoá" (to fertilize, to enrich): The process of making land fertile or enriching something.
  • Người nông dân màu mỡ hoá đất bằng phân bón hữu cơ. (The farmer fertilizes the soil with organic manure.)
• Used figuratively to describe a rich source or favorable conditions for development.
  • Sự kiện đó là mảnh đất màu mỡ cho những tin đồn. (That event was fertile ground for rumors.)

Variants and Related Words

• Phì nhiêu (adj): Synonym for fertile, rich (land). Often used in more formal or literary contexts.
  • Đồng bằng sông Hồng đất đai phì nhiêu. (The Red River Delta has fertile land.)
• Trù phú (adj): Prosperous, rich, and fertile (often describing a region).
  • Một vùng quê trù phú. (A prosperous countryside region.)
• Bạc màu (adj): Infertile, depleted (land). The opposite of "màu mỡ".
  • Đất canh tác lâu năm có thể trở nên bạc màu. (Long-cultivated land can become infertile.)

Synonyms

• Tốt tươi (adj): Fresh and good, often for plants; can imply fertile conditions.
• Sản xuất cao (phrase): High-yielding, productive.

Related Phrases (Idiomatic/Collocational)

• "màu mỡ riêu cua": An idiom meaning something is just superficial talk, empty boasting, or an attractive but insubstantial story (like the froth on a crab soup). It directly uses the rare, figurative meaning of "màu mỡ".
  • Đừng nghe những lời màu mỡ riêu cua của hắn. (Don't listen to his flashy/empty talk.)

Notes on Different Meanings

• The primary and most frequent meaning is "fertile", specifically for soil/land.
• The figurative meaning of "rich/lush/productive" (e.g., for imagination, a field of study) is common and accepted.
• The meaning of "flashy/superficial" is rare and almost exclusively used in the fixed idiom "màu mỡ riêu cua". In modern usage, without this context, it is not the default interpretation.

adj

1. pick; fat (land)