Definition

Verb phrase: - To have a relapse / to suffer a relapse: To become ill again with the same disease shortly after having recovered or appeared to have recovered. It indicates a setback in health.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Bệnh nhân vừa xuất viện đã phải lại. (The patient had a relapse right after being discharged from the hospital.)
  • Anh ấy cảm thấy khỏe hơn, nhưng lo sợ sẽ phải lại. (He felt better but was afraid he would suffer a relapse.)
  • Trời trở lạnh khiến nhiều người ốm phải lại. (The cold weather caused many sick people to relapse.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is almost exclusively used in the context of health and illness. It carries a connotation of misfortune or an unwanted return of the sickness.
• It can sometimes be used metaphorically for a return to a negative habit or situation, though this is less common.

Variants and Related Words

• Tái phát (v): to recur, to relapse (a more formal or medical term).
  • Cơn đau đầu của cô ấy đã tái phát. (Her headache has recurred.)

Synonyms

• Relapse: to fall back into illness after partial recovery.
• Have a setback: (in health) to experience a worsening after improvement.
• Fall ill again: to become sick another time with the same ailment.

Related Idioms

• Ốm lại (v): to be/become sick again. This is a simpler, more general phrase.
  • Cháu bé mới khỏi sốt hôm qua, hôm nay đã ốm lại. (The child just recovered from a fever yesterday but is sick again today.)

1. have (suffer) a relapse