Definition

1. Adjective:
   • To wail or lament persistently and plaintively: Describes a continuous, mournful, and sorrowful sound, typically associated with crying, weeping, or lamenting in a drawn-out, pitiful manner.
   • To whine or moan incessantly: Can describe a prolonged, grating sound expressing complaint, suffering, or distress.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Tiếng khóc của đứa trẻ nghe thật rền rĩ. (The child's crying sounded truly plaintive and mournful.)
  • Giọng nói rền rĩ của bà ấy khi kể về quá khứ khiến mọi người thương cảm. (Her plaintive voice when recounting the past made everyone feel pity.)
  • Chiếc máy cũ kêu rền rĩ mỗi khi khởi động. (The old machine whined incessantly every time it started.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used in literary or descriptive contexts to evoke a strong sense of sustained sorrow, pain, or unpleasant sound. It implies a quality that is emotionally wearing or grating due to its persistence.

Variants and Related Words

• Rền (v): to resound, to echo, often with a deep or continuous sound (e.g., - thunder rumbles). "Rền rĩ" intensifies this with a connotation of mournfulness.
• Rên rỉ (v): to moan, to groan (often from physical pain or discomfort). While similar, "rên rỉ" is more commonly used for short, repeated groans, whereas "rền rĩ" suggests a more continuous, lamenting quality.

Synonyms

• Plaintive: sounding sad and mournful.
• Mournful: feeling, expressing, or inducing sadness or grief.
• Lamenting: expressing passionate grief.
• Whining: making a long, high-pitched complaining sound.

Related Idioms

• While "rền rĩ" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, it is the descriptive word used within contexts of lamentation.
  • Khóc than rền rĩ: to wail and lament plaintively.

    • Người phụ nữ khóc than rền rĩ trước mộ phần. (The woman wailed plaintively before the grave.)