nhày nhụa

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Slimy, viscous, and dirty: Describes a substance or surface that is unpleasantly sticky, slippery, and covered in a wet, often dirty, viscous film. It implies a sense of filth and physical repulsiveness.
   • Covered in grime and grease: Used to describe something soiled with a thick, oily, or greasy dirt that is difficult to clean.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau trận mưa, con ốc sên để lại một vệt nhày nhụa trên tường. (After the rain, the snail left a slimy trail on the wall.)
  • Anh ta sửa xong động cơ, tay chân nhày nhụa dầu mỡ. (He finished repairing the engine, his hands and feet were greasy and grimy.)
  • Sàn bếp trở nên nhày nhụa vì dầu và thức ăn đổ. (The kitchen floor became slimy and greasy from spilled oil and food.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is often used in a figurative sense to describe something morally repulsive or corrupt.
  • Vụ án liên quan đến những thủ đoạn nhày nhụa của giới chính trị. (The case involved the slimy tactics of the political class.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nhầy nhụa: This is a common variant spelling with the same meaning.
• Nhầy (adj): Slimy, mucous. This is the root adjective describing a slick, viscous texture.
  • Chất nhầy (n): mucus, slime.

Synonyms

• Slimy: Covered with or resembling slime; disgustingly slick.
• Greasy: Smeared or soiled with grease or oil.
• Grimy: Covered with ingrained dirt or soot.
• Viscous: Having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid.

Related Idioms

• While not a fixed idiom, the phrase "nhày nhụa như chạch" (slimy as a loach) is a common simile to emphasize extreme sliminess or slipperiness, both literally and figuratively.
  • Kẻ lừa đảo đó nhày nhụa như chạch, cảnh sát khó bắt lắm. (That scammer is as slippery as an eel, the police find him very hard to catch.)