Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Flirtatious, coquettish: Describes a person's manner or behavior that is playfully seductive, teasing, or shows a lighthearted, often exaggerated, interest in attracting romantic or sexual attention. It implies a certain lively, sometimes affected, bounce or swing in movement or attitude.
   • Affectedly disdainful or pretentious: In some contexts, it can describe a manner that is deliberately aloof, haughty, or dismissive in a showy way.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cô ấy đi đứng nhỏng nhảnh trước mặt anh ta. (She walked with a flirtatious sway in front of him.)
  • Đừng có nhỏng nhảnh thế, trông không đứng đắn chút nào. (Don't be so coquettish; it doesn't look proper at all.)
  • Cái kiểu nhỏng nhảnh giả tạo của cô ta khiến mọi người khó chịu. (Her affectedly haughty manner annoyed everyone.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is often used in its reduplicated form "nhỏng nha nhỏng nhảnh" to intensify the meaning, emphasizing a stronger or more conspicuous degree of flirtatiousness or affectation.
  • Cô ta cứ nhỏng nha nhỏng nhảnh mãi, chẳng chịu nghiêm túc. (She kept on acting all flirty and coy, refusing to be serious.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nhỏng nha (adj): A component of the reduplicated form, carrying a similar meaning of being lightly flirtatous or affected. It is rarely used alone.
• Lẳng lơ (adj): A stronger, often more negative synonym meaning "flirtatious," "flighty," or "of loose morals."
• Điệu đà (adj): Describes a dainty, delicate, or affectedly graceful manner, which can overlap with the mannerisms described by .

Synonyms

• Lả lơi: Flirtatious, seductive (often with a more overtly sexual connotation).
• Đỏng đảnh: Coy, capriciously flirtatious.
• Kiêu kỳ: Haughty, proud (shares the "disdainful" aspect).

Notes on Meaning

• The primary and most common meaning in contemporary Vietnamese is flirtatious/coquettish behavior.
• The meaning of pretentious and disdainful is derived from older or more specific interpretations (as seen in the Vietnamese-French dictionary) and may be less common in everyday modern usage, though the element of affected or showy behavior is central to both interpretations.

1. Behave in a flirtatious manner, have flirtatious manner
   • nhỏng nha nhỏng nhảnh (láy, ý tăng)