Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Panicked, flustered, in a state of agitated confusion: Describes a state of being visibly upset, scared, or disorganized due to sudden fear, surprise, or urgency, often leading to chaotic behavior.
   • In a frantic rush: Indicates acting hastily and without order because of alarm or pressure.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Mọi người chạy nháo nhác khi nghe tiếng còi báo động. (Everyone ran around in a panic when they heard the alarm siren.)
  • Anh ấy trông rất nháo nhác sau khi nhận được tin xấu. (He looked very flustered after receiving the bad news.)
  • Đám đông trở nên nháo nhác khi có tin đồn hỏa hoạn. (The crowd became frantic upon hearing the rumor of a fire.)

Advanced Usage

• "làm nháo nhác": to cause a panic, to fluster.

  • Tin đồn thất thiệt đã làm nháo nhác cả khu phố. (The false rumor caused a panic throughout the neighborhood.)

• "vẻ mặt nháo nhác": a panicked/flustered expression.

  • Cô ấy bước vào với vẻ mặt nháo nhác. (She walked in with a panicked expression.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nháo (adj, less common): A shorter, more colloquial form implying commotion or uproar. Often used in compounds like "náo nháo" (boisterous, noisy).
• Hốt hoảng (adj): Frightened, terrified. Shares the meaning of fear but may imply a deeper, more internal terror rather than the externally visible chaotic behavior of "nháo nhác".
• Cuống cuồng (adj): Frenzied, in a wild rush. Very similar to "nháo nhác" but can imply even more intense, almost irrational haste.

Synonyms

• Hoảng loạn: to panic, in panic.
• Lộn xộn: chaotic, disordered (more about the state of things than the emotional state).
• Bối rối: confused, flustered (less intense, often from embarrassment or minor surprise).

Related Phrases/Idioms

(Note: "Nháo nhác" itself is often used as a descriptive phrase. Specific idioms are less common.) - Chạy nháo nhác: to run around frantically/panicked. This is the most typical collocation. - Họ chạy nháo nhác tìm đứa trẻ lạc. (They ran around frantically looking for the lost child.)

1. To scurry here and there in all directions looking for (someone, something)