mệt nhọc
Definition
- Adjective:
- Weary and laborious: Describes a state of physical or mental fatigue resulting from hard work, exertion, or demanding effort. It emphasizes the toll of strenuous activity.
- Arduous and tiring: Characterizes a task, job, or period of labor that is exhausting and requires significant effort.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Sau một ngày lao động mệt nhọc, anh ấy ngủ thiếp đi. (After a day of arduous labor, he fell asleep.)
- Công việc đồng áng thật sự mệt nhọc. (Farm work is truly wearying.)
- Họ cảm thấy mệt nhọc sau chuyến đi dài. (They felt weary after the long journey.)
Advanced Usage
- Used to describe not just a person's feeling, but also the inherent nature of an activity that causes fatigue.
- Hành trình mệt nhọc cuối cùng cũng kết thúc. (The arduous journey finally ended.)
Variants and Related Words
Mệt mỏi (adj): tired, fatigued. Often used more for general tiredness, while mệt nhọc strongly implies tiredness from hard work.
- Cô ấy mệt mỏi vì thức khuya. (She is tired from staying up late.)
Nhọc nhằn (adj): laborious, toilsome. Very similar in meaning to mệt nhọc, often used interchangeably.
- Cuộc sống nhọc nhằn của người nông dân. (The toilsome life of a farmer.)
Synonyms
- Weary: feeling or showing tiredness.
- Arduous: involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.
- Laborious: requiring considerable time and effort.
- Toilsome: (literary) involving hard or exhausting work.
Related Idioms
- Một nắng hai sương: (literally "one sun, two dews") describes a life of hard, early labor, often in farming. This concept is closely related to the state of .
- Người nông dân làm việc một nắng hai sương. (Farmers work tirelessly from dawn to dusk.)