Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Notorious, shamelessly familiar: Used to describe a person who is so frequently seen or encountered in a negative context (e.g., committing misdeeds, causing trouble) that their face becomes overly familiar, implying they have lost all sense of shame or propriety. It carries a strong negative connotation of contempt.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Tên lưu manh đó đã nhẵn mặt trong khu phố này. (That rogue is notorious in this neighborhood.)
  • Hắn là một kẻ lừa đảo nhẵn mặt, cảnh sát biết mặt hắn rồi. (He is a shameless fraudster; the police already know his face.)
  • Đừng có mà nhẵn mặt, không ai tin mày nữa đâu! (Don't be so brazen; no one believes you anymore!)

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost exclusively used pejoratively to criticize someone's audacity or lack of shame from repeated negative behavior. It emphasizes the subject's impudence born from familiarity.
• It often modifies nouns referring to people, such as (guy), (person), (fellow).

Variants and Related Words

• Nhẵn (adj): Smooth, worn smooth (literal). In , it metaphorically means a face has been "worn smooth" from overuse/exposure.
• Mặt dày (adj): Thick-skinned, brazen. A close synonym focusing on impudence rather than the familiarity aspect.
• Trơ trẽn (adj): Shameless, brazen. Another synonym emphasizing the lack of shame.

Synonyms

• Vô liêm sỉ: Shameless, without a sense of shame.
• Trơ mặt: Brazen-faced (similar metaphorical construction).
• Nổi tiếng xấu: Notorious (for bad reasons).

Related Idioms/Phrases

• Nhẵn mặt như chai: (Face as smooth/slick as a bottle). An intensified idiom meaning extremely brazen or shameless.
  • Sau bao lần bị phạt, hắn ta đã nhẵn mặt như chai. (After being punished so many times, he has become utterly shameless.)

1. (xấu) Notorious
   • Tên lưu manh nhẵn mặt
     A notorious ill-doer