Definition

1. Noun:
   • Dark jail, sinister gaol: A dark, gloomy, and often oppressive prison or dungeon. It emphasizes the physical darkness and the grim, forbidding nature of the confinement.
   • Dungeon: An underground prison cell, typically dark and used for holding prisoners in harsh conditions.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Tù nhân bị giam trong ngục tối. (The prisoner was held in a dark jail.)
  • Hắn bị tống vào ngục tối vì tội phản nghịch. (He was thrown into a dungeon for the crime of treason.)
  • Câu chuyện kể về những năm tháng trong ngục tối. (The story tells of the years spent in a sinister gaol.)

Advanced Usage

• Used metaphorically: Can describe a state of extreme mental or spiritual oppression, despair, or isolation.
  • Nỗi cô đơn ấy như một nhà ngục tối. (That loneliness is like a dark prison.)
• Literary/Historical Context: Often appears in historical or literary texts to describe ancient or medieval places of confinement.

Variants and Related Words

• Ngục (n): Prison, jail. The general term.
• Ngục thất (n): Prison cell. A more formal term for a prison chamber.
• Địa ngục (n): Hell. Literally "earth prison," used for the underworld or a place of great suffering.
• La ngục (n): A term for prison, often with a legal or administrative connotation.

Synonyms

• Hầm ngục: Dungeon (emphasizes the underground aspect).
• Nhà tù tối tăm: Dark prison (a more descriptive phrase).

Related Phrases

• Chốn ngục tối: The place of the dark dungeon. A poetic phrase.
• Giam cầm trong ngục tối: To be imprisoned in a dark jail.

Related Idioms

• Tối như ngục tối: As dark as a dungeon. Used to describe a place with absolutely no light.
  • Căn phòng không có cửa sổ, tối như ngục tối. (The room has no windows, it's as dark as a dungeon.)

1. Dark jail, sinister gaol