nghèo xác
Definition
- Adjective:
- Extremely poor, destitute: Describes a state of severe poverty, lacking even basic necessities. It emphasizes a more intense and pitiable level of poverty than just "nghèo" (poor).
- Poverty-stricken, penniless: Conveys complete financial deprivation, having virtually nothing.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Gia đình ấy sống trong một túp lều, nghèo xác. (That family lives in a hut, destitute.)
- Sau trận lũ, nhiều người dân trở nên nghèo xác. (After the flood, many villagers became poverty-stricken.)
- Ông cụ nghèo xác nhưng vẫn lạc quan. (The old man is penniless but still optimistic.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase "nghèo xác" is often used for dramatic or empathetic effect to highlight extreme hardship. It can describe both material circumstances and, by extension, a state of being devoid of something non-material (e.g., ideas, emotions), though this is less common.
Variants and Related Words
- Nghèo xơ (adj): A direct synonym, also meaning utterly destitute or poverty-stricken.
- Khu phố nghèo xơ. (The destitute neighborhood.)
- Nghèo rớt mồng tơi (idiomatic adj): An idiom meaning extremely poor, literally "poor enough that one's melon-leaf hat falls off."
- Nghèo khó (adj): Poor, in difficult circumstances.
- Nghèo nàn (adj): Poor, impoverished; can also describe something lacking or meager (e.g., nghèo nàn ý tưởng - poor in ideas).
Synonyms
- Destitute: Lacking the means of subsistence.
- Penniless: Having no money.
- Impoverished: Reduced to poverty.
- Poverty-stricken: Suffering from extreme poverty.
Related Idioms
- Nghèo rớt mồng tơi: As above, a vivid idiom for extreme poverty.
- Nghèo đói: Poor and hungry, emphasizing hunger.
- Đói rách: Literally "hungry and torn," describing abject poverty with worn-out clothes.