Definition

1. Noun:
   • Litter, garbage, refuse: Physical waste, discarded items, and worthless material that is dirty and needs to be disposed of.
   • Dregs, scum, riffraff: A figurative term for people or things considered worthless, corrupt, immoral, or the lowest part of society.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Physical waste):
  • Công nhân vệ sinh quét dọn rác rưởi trên đường phố. (Sanitation workers sweep up litter from the streets.)
  • Căn phòng bỏ hoang đầy rác rưởi. (The abandoned room was full of garbage.)
• Noun (Figurative: worthless elements):
  • Bọn tội phạm đó là rác rưởi của xã hội. (Those criminals are the scum of society.)
  • Anh ta vứt bỏ những rác rưởi tư tưởng cũ kỹ. (He discarded the old ideological dregs.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is stronger and more derogatory than the simple word "" (trash). It implies not just waste, but also filth, decay, and something morally repugnant or utterly useless.
• It is commonly used in social and moral commentary to condemn behaviors, cultural products, or groups of people deemed to be degrading or harmful.

Variants and Related Words

• Rác (n): Trash, garbage. A more neutral and common term for everyday waste.
  • Đổ rác (to take out the trash).
• Đồ rác rưởi (n phrase): Worthless stuff/people. An emphatic, insulting phrase.
  • Mày không là gì ngoài đồ rác rưởi! (You are nothing but worthless scum!)

Synonyms

• Physical: Litter, garbage, refuse, junk, debris, waste.
• Figurative: Dregs, scum, riffraff, trash, lowlife, filth.

Related Idioms

• Rác rưởi xã hội: The dregs/scum of society. A fixed phrase for describing people viewed as the most corrupt or degenerate elements in a community.
  • Chúng cần phải loại bỏ những rác rưởi xã hội này. (They need to eliminate this scum of society.)

1. Litter, garbage, refuse
2. Dregs
   • Rác rưởi của xã hội
     The dregs of society