Definition

1. Verb:
   • To harass, to trouble, to bother: To cause persistent annoyance, disturbance, or trouble to someone, often through petty or vexatious actions. Historically used to describe the oppressive behavior of corrupt officials towards the people.
   • To be troublesome, to be a nuisance: To behave in an irritating or bothersome manner, especially used for describing annoying children.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Quan lại nhũng dân. (The mandarins harassed/troubled the people.)
  • Thằng bé nhũng quá. (That boy is too troublesome/is such a nuisance.)
  • Đừng nhũng em bé nữa. (Stop bothering the baby.)

Advanced Usage

• "tham nhũng": This is a compound noun meaning "corruption". It combines "tham" (greedy) and "nhũng" (to harass), originally describing the greedy and oppressive actions of officials. Note: This is a compound word listed separately as it is not the exact target word "nhũng".
  • Cuộc chiến chống tham nhũng. (The fight against corruption.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nhũng nhiễu (verb): A synonym meaning to harass, to trouble, often with a sense of persistent annoyance. It is more commonly used in modern Vietnamese than "nhũng" alone.
  • Không được nhũng nhiễu người khác. (You must not harass others.)
• Quấy nhũng (verb): Another synonym meaning to disturb, to bother.
• Sách nhiễu (verb): To extort, to harass (often for money or favors), carrying a stronger sense of abuse of power.

Synonyms

• Quấy rầy: To disturb, to bother.
• Quấy rối: To harass, to trouble.
• Làm phiền: To bother, to trouble (more general and common in modern speech).

Notes on Usage

• The word "nhũng" is considered literary and somewhat archaic in modern Vietnamese when used alone. It is most frequently encountered in the historical or formal compound "tham nhũng" (corruption) or in the synonym "nhũng nhiễu".
• Its core meaning revolves around causing petty trouble or vexation, often from a position of minor authority or through irritating behavior.

1. Worry, harass, trouble
   • Quan lại nhũng dân
     The mandarins harassed the people