Definition

1. Verb:
   • To feel suffocated; to have difficulty breathing: "ngạt" describes the physical sensation of being unable to breathe properly, often due to a lack of air or a constricted feeling.
   • To be stifled or oppressed (figuratively): While less common, "ngạt" can describe a feeling of being mentally or emotionally overwhelmed, as if one cannot "breathe."

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Trong căn phòng kín không có cửa sổ, tôi cảm thấy ngạt thở. (In the sealed room with no windows, I feel suffocated.)
  • Khói từ đám cháy khiến nhiều người bị ngạt. (Smoke from the fire caused many people to suffocate.)
  • Cảm giác lo lắng ấy làm tôi ngạt thở. (That feeling of anxiety makes me feel stifled.)

Advanced Usage

• "ngạt thở": This is the most common compound phrase, meaning "to suffocate" or "to feel suffocated." It intensifies the basic verb "ngạt."
  • Áp lực công việc khiến anh ấy có cảm giác ngạt thở. (Work pressure gives him a suffocating feeling.)
• "nghẹt ngạt": A reduplicative form that emphasizes a stifling, oppressive atmosphere, often used for environments.
  • Bầu không khí trong cuộc họp thật nghẹt ngạt. (The atmosphere in the meeting was truly oppressive.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ngộp (verb): A close synonym meaning to feel suffocated or stifled. It is often used interchangeably with "ngạt" in many contexts.
  • Tôi ngộp trong đám đông. (I feel suffocated in the crowd.)
• Nghẹt (verb): Often means "to be clogged" or "blocked" (e.g., a nose). It shares the root idea of obstruction leading to "ngạt."
  • Mũi tôi bị nghẹt vì cảm lạnh. (My nose is clogged because of a cold.)

Synonyms

• Bị nghẹt thở: to be choked, to suffocate.
• Tắc thở: to have one's breath cut off.
• Thiếu không khí: to lack air.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Làm cho ngạt thở: to cause someone to suffocate; to stifle.
  • Sự kiểm soát quá mức của bố mẹ làm cho cô ấy ngạt thở. (Her parents' excessive control stifles her.)

Related Idioms

• Ngạt trong vòng tay: Literally "suffocated in an embrace," used figuratively to describe being smothered by overly protective or restrictive love/care.
  • Đôi khi tình yêu thương quá mức có thể khiến đứa trẻ cảm thấy ngạt trong vòng tay cha mẹ. (Sometimes excessive love can make a child feel smothered in their parents' embrace.)

verb

1. to feel oppressed; to breath with difficult