Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Poor; Needy; Indigent: Lacking sufficient money or material possessions to live a comfortable or adequate life. This is the primary meaning, describing a state of financial or economic hardship.
   • Poor (in quality or quantity): Lacking in a specific, non-monetary resource or desirable quality, such as nutrients in soil or ideas in a piece of writing.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Financial):
  • Gia đình anh ấy rất nghèo. (His family is very poor.)
  • Các nước nghèo cần được hỗ trợ. (Poor countries need support.)
• Adjective (Lacking a specific resource):
  • Vùng đất này nghèo dinh dưỡng. (This land is poor in nutrients.)
  • Bài thơ nghèo cảm xúc. (The poem is poor in emotion.)

Advanced Usage

• "nghèo nàn": (adjective) Poor, impoverished, meager. Often used to emphasize a pitiful or severely lacking state, both materially and abstractly.
  • Cuộc sống nghèo nàn. (A meager/impoverished life.)
  • Tư duy nghèo nàn. (Impoverished thinking.)
• "nghèo xơ nghèo xác": (idiomatic adjective) Destitute; extremely poor; dirt-poor.
  • Họ sống trong một căn nhà nghèo xơ nghèo xác. (They live in a house of utter destitution.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nghèo khó (adj): Poor, in difficult circumstances.
  • Tuổi thơ nghèo khó. (A childhood of poverty.)
• Nghèo đói (adj): Poor and hungry; impoverished.
  • Xóa bỏ tình trạng nghèo đói. (To eradicate poverty and hunger.)
• Túng nghèo (adj): Hard up; in straitened circumstances.
• Nhà nghèo (noun phrase): A poor family; coming from a poor background.

Synonyms

• Poor: Lacking financial means.
• Needy: Being in need, requiring assistance.
• Impoverished: Reduced to poverty.
• Destitute: Completely lacking resources.
• Meager: Deficient in quantity or richness.

Related Idioms

• Nghèo rớt mồng tơi: (Literally: poor enough to lose one's malabar spinach) An idiom meaning extremely poor, destitute.
  • Sau trận bão, nhiều ngư dân trở nên nghèo rớt mồng tơi. (After the storm, many fishermen became dirt-poor.)
• Nghèo nhưng mà sang: Poor but classy/elegant; implying dignity or good taste despite poverty.

adj

1. poor; needy; indigent; proventy
   • sống trong cảnh nghèo nàn
     to live in proverty