Definition

1. Noun:
   • Extortioner, parasite of the people: A person, especially an official in the old feudal society, who exploits and drains the resources of the common people for personal gain. This term strongly implies corruption and oppression.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trong xã hội phong kiến, nhiều quan lại thực chất là mọt dân. (In feudal society, many mandarins were essentially parasites of the people.)
  • Những tên mọt dân ấy chỉ biết vơ vét của dân lành. (Those extortioners only knew how to plunder from the innocent people.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is almost exclusively used in a historical or critical context to describe corrupt officials from pre-revolutionary or feudal times. It carries a strong negative, condemnatory connotation.
• It can be used metaphorically in modern political discourse to harshly criticize contemporary corrupt officials by comparing them to historical figures, though this is a stylistic and rhetorical choice.

Variants and Related Words

• Sâu mọt (n): Literally "borer insect" (like a termite or weevil); a metaphor for a corrupt, destructive element within an organization or system.
  • Bọn sâu mọt làm hại đất nước. (Those corrupt elements are harming the country.)
• Quan lại (n): Mandarins, officials (in feudal times). This is a more neutral term for the group from which "mọt dân" often came.
• Hà khắc (adj): Harsh, oppressive. Can describe the behavior of a "mọt dân".

Synonyms

• Kẻ bóc lột: Exploiter.
• Kẻ hút máu nhân dân: Bloodsucker of the people (a very strong metaphor).
• Kẻ tham quan: Corrupt official.

Related Idioms/Phrases

• While "mọt dân" itself is not typically part of a longer idiom, it is conceptually related to phrases condemning corruption:
  • Quan tham, lại nhũng: Corrupt mandarins, oppressive clerks. (A phrase describing systemic corruption.)
  • Hút máu mỡ dân lành: To suck the blood and fat of the innocent people. (A vivid metaphor for extreme exploitation.)

1. Extortioner (nói về qua ại thời trước)