Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To lose strength or energy: To experience a reduction in one's physical power, vitality, or stamina, often due to exertion, illness, or fatigue.
   • To become weakened: To enter a state of diminished capacity or force.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Sau trận ốm, tôi cảm thấy mất sức nhiều. (After the illness, I feel I have lost a lot of strength.)
  • Làm việc liên tục 12 tiếng khiến anh ta hoàn toàn mất sức. (Working continuously for 12 hours caused him to completely lose his energy.)
  • Đội bóng bắt đầu mất sức ở hiệp hai. (The team began to lose strength in the second half.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase can be used metaphorically to describe systems, organizations, or movements losing their momentum or effectiveness.
  • Công ty bắt đầu mất sức cạnh tranh trên thị trường. (The company began to lose its competitive strength in the market.)

Variants and Related Words

• Kiệt sức (adj/verb phrase): to be exhausted, to be drained of strength. This implies a more severe or complete state than "mất sức."

  • Cô ấy làm việc đến kiệt sức. (She worked until she was exhausted.)

• Mất hơi (verb phrase): to lose breath, to become out of breath. This is more specific to respiratory stamina.

Synonyms

• To become enervated: To lose vitality or vigor.
• To weaken: To become less strong.
• To tire out: To become fatigued.

Related Idioms

• Mất sức, mất lực: An idiom emphasizing a total loss of strength and power.
  • Sau cuộc khủng hoảng, doanh nghiệp ấy thực sự mất sức, mất lực. (After the crisis, that enterprise truly lost all its strength and power.)