Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Blurred, smeared: Describes something, typically a line, image, or text, that is not sharp or clear because its edges or details have run, spread, or become indistinct.
   • Dim, hazy: Describes vision or a light source that is unclear, unfocused, or obscured, often due to tears, fog, or distance.

2. Verb (used with "bị", "làm cho"):

   • To become blurred/smeared: To undergo the process of losing clarity or sharpness.
   • To blur, to smear: To cause something to lose its clarity or sharpness.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Chữ viết bị nhoè vì giấy ướt. (The writing is blurred because the paper is wet.)
  • Mắt cô ấy nhoè đi vì nước mắt. (Her eyes became blurry with tears.)
  • Ánh đèn pha nhoè trong làn mưa. (The headlights were hazy in the rain.)

• Verb:

  • Nước làm nhoè mực. (Water smears the ink.)
  • Đừng dụi mắt, bạn sẽ làm nhoè kính áp tròng. (Don't rub your eyes, you'll blur your contact lenses.)

Advanced Usage

• "nhoè nhoẹt": An emphatic, often negative, reduplicative form meaning "smeared all over", "messily blurred", or "a complete blur". It emphasizes a dirty, untidy, or excessive state of blurring.
  • Tranh vẽ của đứa trẻ nhoè nhoẹt màu nước. (The child's painting is smeared all over with watercolors.)
  • Chữ ký nhoè nhoẹt, không đọc được. (The signature is a complete, messy blur and is unreadable.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nhòe: This is a common variant spelling of "nhoè". The meanings and usage are identical.
  • Hàng chữ nhòe đi trong màn sương. (The line of text blurred in the fog.)
• Làm nhòe / Làm nhoè: A verb phrase meaning "to cause to blur".
  • Hơi nước làm nhòe gương. (The steam fogs/blurs the mirror.)

Synonyms

• Mờ (adj): Dim, faint, unclear. ("Mờ" can refer to light, sound, memory, or images, while "nhoè" often implies a running or spreading of lines/edges.)
• Lóa (adj/v): Glared, dazzled. (Refers to vision impaired by excessive light, not by spreading lines or tears.)

Related Phrases

• Nhoè mắt: (For one's eyes) to become blurry.
  • Tôi đọc lâu quá nên nhoè mắt. (I read for too long so my eyes got blurry.)
• Chữ nhoè: Blurred text/letters.
  • Tài liệu photo chất lượng kém, chữ nhoè hết. (The photocopied document is of poor quality; the text is all blurred.)

Related Idioms

• Nhoè nhoẹt như mực đổ: (As smeared as spilled ink) – Used to describe something that is an illegible, messy blur.
  • Chữ viết tay của anh ấy nhoè nhoẹt như mực đổ. (His handwriting is a smeared mess, like spilled ink.)

1. Blur
   • Giấy ẩm viết nhòe
     One's writing blurs on wet paper
   • nhòe nhoẹt
     To dirtily blur, to smear all over
   • Đánh rơi nước chè vào nhòe nhoẹt cả trang giấy mới viết
     To Smear all over a newly-written page with spilt tea