Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Tiresome to the ear, ear-wearying: Describes something (often speech, music, or sound) that is repeated too often, becoming boring, monotonous, and irritating to listen to.
   • Hackneyed, clichéd: Refers to words, phrases, or ideas that are overused and have lost their originality or impact, making them sound stale.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Bài hát đó nghe mãi thật nhàm tai. (That song, listened to repeatedly, is really tiresome to the ear.)
  • Những lời khen sáo rỗng ấy nghe đã nhàm tai. (Those hollow compliments sound hackneyed.)
  • Anh ấy kể đi kể lại câu chuyện cũ đến nhàm tai. (He retold the old story until it became ear-wearying.)

Advanced Usage

• "nghe nhàm tai" / "nghe đã nhàm tai": A common collocation meaning "to sound tiresome/clichéd".
  • Kiểu nói chuyện đó nghe nhàm tai lắm rồi. (That manner of speaking sounds very clichéd already.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nhàm (adj): Tiresome, boring, monotonous. A more general term, of which "nhàm tai" is a specific sense related to hearing.
  • bài học nhàm (a boring lesson)
• Nhàm chán (adj): Boring, tedious. A stronger synonym combining "nhàm" and "chán" (bored).
• Sáo rỗng (adj): Hollow, insincere (often of speech). Can be a cause of something being "nhàm tai".

Synonyms

• Đơn điệu (adj): Monotonous.
• Cũ rích (adj): Very old, stale (of ideas, stories).
• Sến (adj, colloquial): Corny, tacky, overly sentimental (often leading to a "nhàm tai" effect).

Related Idioms/Phrases

• Nhàm như tương (Idiom): As tiresome as fermented soybean paste; extremely boring and repetitive. This is a stronger, more vivid idiom.
  • Câu chuyện của ông ấy nhàm như tương. (His story is extremely tiresome.)
• Điệp khúc cũ (Phrase): An old refrain; a metaphor for a repeatedly mentioned, tiresome topic.
  • Lại là điệp khúc cũ về những khó khăn tài chính. (It's the same old refrain about financial difficulties again.)

1. xem nhàm