Definition

Adverb/Adjective (used as an adverbial phrase): To do something with great haste, voracity, or intensity, often in a rushed or ravenous manner. It describes an action performed quickly and completely, without pause or care, as if devouring.

Usage

The phrase "nghiến ngấu" is used to modify a verb, most commonly "ăn" (to eat), to describe the manner of the action. It emphasizes speed and a lack of restraint.

Examples

• Ăn nghiến ngấu: To eat voraciously, to wolf down food.
  • Cậu bé đói bụng nên ăn nghiến ngấu hết bát cơm. (The hungry boy wolfed down the whole bowl of rice.)
• Làm nghiến ngấu: To do something hastily, to rush through a task.
  • Anh ấy làm nghiến ngấu bài tập về nhà để còn đi chơi. (He rushed through his homework so he could go out.)
• Đói nghiến ngấu: To be ravenously hungry.
  • Sau buổi tập, tôi cảm thấy đói nghiến ngấu. (After the workout, I felt ravenously hungry.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase can be used metaphorically beyond physical consumption, such as reading or completing work with intense speed and focus.
  • Cô ấy đọc nghiến ngấu cuốn tiểu thuyết mới trong một ngày. (She devoured the new novel in one day.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ngấu nghiến: This is a direct variant with the same meaning and usage as "nghiến ngấu". They are interchangeable.
  • Ăn ngấu nghiến (to eat voraciously).
• Nghiến (ngh. II): In some contexts, "nghiến" alone can carry a similar meaning of doing something quickly and thoroughly.
  • Ăn nghiến (to eat quickly/up).

Synonyms

• Vội vàng: Hastily, in a hurry (focuses more on speed than intensity).
• Cuống cuồng: Frenziedly, in a panic (implies a state of panic or chaos).
• Háu ăn: Voracious, gluttonous (describes a characteristic, not an action).

Notes

• "Nghiến ngấu" is considered informal and vivid. It is more common in spoken language or descriptive writing.
• The core image is one of devouring or consuming something completely and rapidly.

1. như ngấu nghiến