Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Full of vicissitudes; full of ups and downs: Describes a situation, life, or existence characterized by frequent, unpredictable, and often difficult changes in fortune, status, or circumstances.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cuộc đời nổi chìm. (A life full of ups and downs.)
  • Anh ấy đã trải qua một thời kỳ nổi chìm trong sự nghiệp. (He went through a period full of vicissitudes in his career.)
  • Cuộc sống nổi chìm của những người di cư. (The vicissitudinous life of migrants.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in a literary or reflective context to evoke a sense of a turbulent, unstable, and challenging journey through life or history.

Variants and Related Words

• Nổi (v): to float, to rise, to emerge.
• Chìm (v): to sink, to submerge.
• Long đong (adj): difficult, troubled, full of hardship (often used similarly to ).
  • Số phận long đong. (A troubled fate.)

Synonyms

• Turbulent: characterized by conflict, disorder, or confusion.
• Vicissitudinous: marked by or full of vicissitudes (changes of circumstances).
• Eventful: marked by interesting or exciting events.

Related Idioms

• Bể dâu (literally "mulberry fields become a sea"): an idiom denoting great, unpredictable changes in life and the world, similar in concept to but more philosophical.
  • Cuộc đời bể dâu. (A life of constant, profound change.)

1. Full of vicissitudes, full of ups and downs
   • Cuộc đời nổi chìm
     A life full of ups and downs
   • nổi cơn
     Have a bout (of fever), have an outburst (of passion), have a fit (of temper)
   • Nổi cơn ho
     To develop a fit of coughing