Definition

1. Adjective:
   • (Of children) to be neglected; uncared for: Describes a state, typically of a group of children, living in deprivation, lacking proper care, attention, and basic necessities. It conveys a sense of being scruffy, forlorn, and left to fend for themselves.
   • To be in a wretched or destitute condition: While most commonly applied to children, it can describe any group living in a pitiful, impoverished, and untended state.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Nhìn cảnh lũ trẻ nheo nhóc ở khu ổ chuột thật đau lòng. (Looking at the neglected children in the slum is heartbreaking.)
  • Sau chiến tranh, nhiều đứa trẻ mồ côi sống nheo nhóc. (After the war, many orphaned children lived in a wretched, uncared-for state.)
  • Cả một gia đình nheo nhóc trong căn nhà tồi tàn. (A whole family lived destitute in a dilapidated house.)

Advanced Usage

• The word "nheo nhóc" strongly implies a collective or plural state. It is rarely used to describe a single individual. The imagery is often of a ragged, struggling group.
• It carries a strong emotional connotation of pity and social concern, highlighting a failure of care.

Variants and Related Words

• Bơ vơ (adj): describes a state of being lost, forlorn, and without support, often feeling alone. While "nheo nhóc" focuses on physical neglect, "bơ vơ" emphasizes emotional abandonment.
  • Đứa trẻ bơ vơ lạc giữa chợ. (The child was forlorn and lost in the market.)
• Khốn khổ (adj): wretched, miserable, suffering hardship. This is a broader term for general misery, not specifically tied to lack of care like "nheo nhóc".

Synonyms

• Neglected: lacking proper care.
• Uncared-for: not looked after.
• Destitute: extremely poor and lacking basic necessities.
• Wretched: in a very unhappy or unfortunate state.

Related Idioms

• Đói rách nheo nhóc: to be utterly destitute and ragged.
  • Những năm đói kém, dân làng đói rách nheo nhóc. (During the famine years, the villagers were utterly destitute and ragged.)

adj

1. (of children) to be neglected; uncared for