Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Stubbornly insistent; unyielding: Describes a person's attitude or behavior of being obstinate, refusing to change their mind or course of action despite persuasion or reason.
   • Persistent in a demanding way: Conveys a sense of continual, often annoying, persistence in asserting a demand or opinion.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Nó cứ nằng nằng đòi mua đồ chơi mới. (He keeps stubbornly demanding to buy a new toy.)
  • Dù mọi người can ngăn, cô ấy vẫn nằng nằng giữ ý kiến của mình. (Even though everyone advised against it, she remained unyielding in keeping her opinion.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is a reduplicative form, which intensifies the meaning of a base word (though "nằng" alone is rarely used in modern Vietnamese). It strongly emphasizes a stubborn, single-minded attitude.

Variants and Related Words

• Nằng nặc (adj): A very close synonym, also meaning stubbornly insistent or obstinate.
  • Cậu bé nằng nặc đòi đi theo. (The boy obstinately insisted on going along.)

Synonyms

• Obstinate: Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or chosen course of action.
• Adamant: Refusing to be persuaded or to change one's mind.
• Persistent: Continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

Related Idioms

• While "nằng nằng" itself is not typically part of a longer idiom, its meaning is central to describing situations of stubborn insistence, often captured in phrases like (to keep stubbornly demanding until one gets it).