Definition

1. Adjective (Descriptive Particle):
   • Extremely quiet or silent: Used to describe a state of profound, absolute silence, often with a poetic or literary nuance. It emphasizes the completeness of the quiet.
   • As silent as a grave: A common metaphorical usage, comparing the silence to that of a tomb.

Usage Notes

• "Phắc" is rarely used alone in modern Vietnamese. It almost always appears in the fixed form "im phắc" (meaning "completely silent") or the reduplicated form "phăng phắc" (meaning "in perfect silence," with intensified meaning).
• It functions as a descriptive particle that modifies the adjective "im" (silent) to intensify its meaning.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cả căn phòng im phắc. (The entire room was dead silent.)
  • Mọi người ngồi nghe phăng phắc. (Everyone sat listening in utter silence.)

Advanced Usage

• "phăng phắc": This is a reduplicated form (từ láy) of "phắc." Reduplication in Vietnamese often intensifies the quality. "Phăng phắc" conveys an even stronger, more absolute, and often more descriptive silence than "im phắc."
  • Khu rừng đêm khuya phăng phắc. (The forest in the late night was profoundly silent.)

Variants and Related Words

• Im phắc (Adjective Phrase): Completely silent, as quiet as a grave.
• Phăng phắc (Adjective/Adverb): In perfect silence; a state of intense and absolute quiet.

Synonyms

• Tĩnh mịch: Serene, tranquil (often for places).
• Vắng lặng: Quiet, still.
• Im ắng: Silent, noiseless.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Im như tờ: As silent as a sheet of paper (a common idiom for silence).
• Im như thóc: As silent as unhusked rice (another idiom for deep silence).
• Im lặng như tờ: Silence is golden (idiomatic).

1. Like a grave
   • Im phắc
     As silent as a grave
   • Phăng phắc (láy, ý tăng)