Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Perilous; extremely dangerous: Describes a situation of grave and imminent danger, where escape or survival is very difficult or seems impossible.
   • Critical; precarious: Refers to a state of extreme vulnerability or risk, often at a decisive point where the outcome is uncertain and potentially disastrous.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Tình thế lúc đó vô cùng nguy khốn. (The situation at that time was extremely perilous.)
  • Sức khỏe của bệnh nhân đang trong tình trạng nguy khốn. (The patient's health is in a critical condition.)
  • Con tàu lâm vào cảnh nguy khốn giữa biển động. (The ship found itself in a precarious situation amidst the stormy sea.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used in formal, literary, or journalistic contexts to emphasize the severity of a crisis, threat, or predicament.
• Can describe both physical danger (e.g., a person's life) and abstract situations (e.g., political stability, financial state).

Variants and Related Words

• Nguy hiểm (adj): Dangerous, hazardous. (A more common and general term for danger.)
• Hiểm nguy (adj/n): Peril, danger. (A synonym with a similar level of severity, often used in set phrases.)
• Khốn đốn (adj): Destitute, in dire straits. (Focuses more on hardship and distress, but can overlap with the desperate aspect of "nguy khốn".)

Synonyms

• Perilous: Full of grave risk or danger.
• Critical: Of decisive importance; at a point of crisis.
• Precarious: Not securely held; dangerously unstable.
• Dire: Desperately urgent or severe.

Related Idioms

• Lâm vào cảnh nguy khốn: To fall into a perilous situation.
  • Công ty đang lâm vào cảnh nguy khốn về tài chính. (The company is falling into a financially precarious situation.)
• Thoát khỏi cơn nguy khốn: To escape from a critical danger.
  • May mắn thay, họ đã thoát khỏi cơn nguy khốn. (Fortunately, they escaped from the critical danger.)