Definition

1. Adjective (Tính từ):
   • Brazen, shameless, unashamed: Describes a facial expression or demeanor that shows no shame or embarrassment, especially when one should feel it. This is the primary meaning in the provided reference context.

Usage

• This word is primarily used in the reduplicated form "nhơn nhơn" to intensify the meaning of being brazen or shameless.
• It is marked as a dialectal word (địa phương). Its usage is not standard in formal modern Vietnamese and is considered regional or colloquial.
• It typically describes a person's attitude or expression in a negative context, implying a lack of proper reaction to criticism or shameful situations.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (in reduplicated form):
  • Bị mẹ mắng mà cứ nhơn nhơn. (To put on a brazen face though scolded by one's mother.)
  • Nó làm sai mà mặt vẫn nhơn nhơn như không. (He did wrong but still had a brazen face as if nothing happened.)

Advanced Usage

• The word "nhơn" itself is rarely used alone in modern Vietnamese. Its meaning is almost exclusively conveyed through the reduplication "nhơn nhơn".
• The phrase "mặt nhơn nhơn" (a brazen face) is a common collocation to describe someone's shameless expression.

Variants and Related Words

• Nhân (仁): This is the standard Sino-Vietnamese word from which "nhơn" is a dialectal phonetic variant. It has different meanings:
  • Humanity, benevolence, kindness: A core Confucian virtue (e.g., đạo nhân - the way of humanity).
  • Cause, reason: As in nguyên nhân (cause/origin).
  • To multiply (mathematics): As in phép nhân (multiplication).
  • Taking advantage of an occasion: As in nhân dịp (on the occasion of).
• Vô liêm sỉ: A more standard synonym meaning "shameless, without shame."

Synonyms

• Trơ trẽn: Brazen-faced, shameless.
• Vô liêm sỉ: Shameless, without a sense of shame.
• Mặt dày: Thick-skinned, brazen (colloquial).

Important Note

The word "nhơn" explained here (meaning brazen) is homographic with the dialectal variant of the standard word "nhân". They are the same written form but represent different words/concepts. The user's reference context clearly points to the brazen meaning, not the meanings of nhân (humanity, cause, etc.). In practice, the brazen meaning is almost always seen in the form "nhơn nhơn".

1. (địa phương) như nhân nhơn nhơn
2. Put on a brazen face
   • Bị mẹ mắng mà cứ nhơn nhơn
     To put on a brazen face though scolded by one's mother