nghiêng ngửa

Thân thiện

Một người nông dân làm việc nghiêng ngửa trên cánh đồng.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Full of hardships and instability: Describes a life, situation, or period characterized by constant difficulties, ups and downs, and a lack of stability or peace.
   • Agitated; tumultuous: Refers to a state of being troubled, restless, or marked by constant change and disturbance.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cuộc đời nghiêng ngửa. (A life full of hardships and instability.)
  • Anh ấy đã trải qua một thời kỳ nghiêng ngửa vì danh lợi. (He went through an agitated period because of fame and fortune.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in a figurative and literary sense to evoke the image of something being tilted back and forth () and turned upside down (), symbolizing a lack of balance and constant turmoil.

Variants and Related Words

• Long đong (adj): difficult, full of vicissitudes. Often used similarly to describe a hard, unstable life.
• Vất vả (adj): hard, laborious, toilsome. Focuses more on the aspect of hardship and effort.

Synonyms

• Tumultuous: Marked by violent or overwhelming turbulence or upheaval.
• Troubled: Characterized by distress, disturbance, or instability.
• Unstable: Prone to change, failure, or uncertainty.

Related Idioms

• While "nghiêng ngửa" itself is often used as a set phrase, it conceptually relates to idioms describing a difficult life, such as:
  • Nổi trôi: To drift; to lead a life of uncertainty and hardship.

    • Số phận nổi trôi. (A drifting fate.)

Học thuật

1. Fluctuating, vacillating, undecided
2. Full of hardships
   • Cuộc đời nghiêng ngửa