Definition

1. Verb:
   • To feel a poignant sadness or sorrow: To experience a deep, quiet, and often melancholic feeling of pity, regret, or compassion, typically for oneself or others in a difficult situation. It implies a state of reflective sorrow that is held inside.
   • To be moved to pity: To feel compassion or tenderness upon witnessing misfortune or hardship.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cô ấy ngậm ngùi nhìn lại quãng thời gian đã qua. (She looked back on the past with poignant sadness.)
  • Ngậm ngùi trước cảnh khổ của người khác. (To be moved to pity by the suffering of others.)
  • Nghĩ thân mà lại ngậm ngùi cho thân. (Thinking of oneself, one feels all the more sorrow for one's own fate.)

Advanced Usage

• The word "ngậm ngùi" often carries a literary and poetic tone, describing a sorrow that is quietly endured or contemplated rather than loudly expressed.

Variants and Related Words

• Thương cảm (v): to sympathize, to feel compassion. (A more general term for sympathy.)
• Xót xa (v/adj): to feel acute pain or heartache; heartrending. (Often implies a sharper, more immediate pain than "ngậm ngùi".)
• Buồn rầu (adj): sad, sorrowful. (A more common and general term for sadness.)

Synonyms

• Bemoan: to express deep sorrow or regret.
• Lament: to feel or express sorrow or regret.
• Pine: to suffer a mental and physical decline, especially from longing or regret.

Related Idioms

• Ngậm ngùi thương cảm: To be filled with sorrowful compassion.
  • Bà lão ngậm ngùi thương cảm cho số phận đứa trẻ mồ côi. (The old woman felt sorrowful compassion for the orphaned child's fate.)

verb

1. to pity; to have compassion