Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely stupid, foolish, or ignorant: Describes a person who lacks intelligence, understanding, or reason to a profound degree. It implies a deep-seated, often willful, ignorance or lack of mental capacity.
   • Benighted, obtuse: Suggests being in intellectual or moral darkness, unable to grasp simple concepts or truths.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Hành động phá hoại môi trường đó thật ngu muội. (That act of environmental destruction is extremely foolish.)
  • Anh ta tin vào những lời lừa đảo ấy, thật là ngu muội. (He believes those scams; he is truly benighted.)
  • Tư tưởng ngu muội đã cản trở sự phát triển của xã hội. (Obtuse thinking has hindered the society's development.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used in formal, literary, or strongly critical contexts to express severe condemnation of someone's lack of judgment or intellect. It is stronger and more formal than "ngu ngốc" (stupid).
• Can be used to describe not only people but also actions, ideas, beliefs, or eras characterized by profound ignorance.
  • Một thời kỳ ngu muội (A benighted era)

Variants and Related Words

• Ngu (adj): Stupid, foolish. The root word, less severe and more common.
• Ngu dốt (adj): Ignorant, uneducated. Emphasizes a lack of knowledge.
• Ngu tối (adj): Synonymous with "ngu muội," meaning dim-witted, in intellectual darkness.
• Muội (Sino-Vietnamese element): Means "dim, dark, obscured." Appears in words like "u muội" (darkened, ignorant).

Synonyms

• Đần độn: Feeble-minded, dull-witted.
• Ngu xuẩn: Stupid and stubborn; idiotic.
• U mê: Beclouded, deluded (often in a moral or spiritual sense).

Related Idioms

• (Có) đầu óc ngu muội: (To have) a dim-witted mind.
  • Hắn có cái đầu óc ngu muội, chẳng hiểu gì cả. (He has a dim-witted mind and understands nothing.)
• While "ngu muội" itself is not typically part of a wider range of phrasal verbs or idioms, its strength lies in its direct use as a stark adjective.

1. Completely dim-headed