Definition

1. Verb:
   • To wander, to drift, to lead a wandering life: To live without a fixed home or destination, moving from place to place, often due to circumstance or hardship. It implies a sense of rootlessness and instability.
   • To be adrift, to be nomadic: To exist in a state of constant movement without settling down, often carrying a poetic or melancholic connotation.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Ông ấy đã phiêu bạt khắp nơi trên thế giới. (He wandered/drifted all over the world.)
  • Cuộc đời phiêu bạt của người nghệ sĩ. (The wandering life of the artist.)
  • Sau chiến tranh, nhiều người phải phiêu bạt tha hương. (After the war, many people had to drift away from their homeland.)

Advanced Usage

• The term often describes a long-term, involuntary state of existence rather than a single act of travel. It is frequently used in literary contexts to evoke a sense of fate, loneliness, or adventure.
• It can be used metaphorically to describe a state of mind or spirit that feels unmoored or without direction.

Variants and Related Words

• Phiêu lưu (v): To adventure, to have an adventure. This focuses more on voluntary seeking of excitement, whereas emphasizes displacement.
  • Cậu ấy mơ ước một cuộc sống phiêu lưu. (He dreams of a life of adventure.)
• Lang thang (v): To roam, to loiter. This can be for a shorter duration and may imply aimlessness within a smaller area.
  • Đứa trẻ lang thang trên phố. (The child roamed the streets.)

Synonyms

• Wander: To move about without a fixed course.
• Drift: To be carried along by currents of air or water, or by circumstances.
• Roam: To move about freely over a wide area.
• Lead a nomadic life: To live by moving from place to place.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Phiêu bạt giang hồ: To wander the rivers and lakes; a classical phrase denoting the life of a wanderer or adventurer, often with a romantic or martial arts connotation.
  • Anh ta sống một cuộc đời phiêu bạt giang hồ. (He lived a life of wandering the martial world.)
• Số phận phiêu bạt: A drifting/destitute fate.
  • Số phận phiêu bạt của những người tị nạn. (The drifting fate of the refugees.)

1. Wander, drift
   • Cuộc đời phiêu bạt
     A wandering life