Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Emaciated; haggard; utterly exhausted: Describes a state of extreme physical fatigue, weakness, or dishevelment, often making someone look worn out and limp.
   • Disheveled; hanging limply and in disorder: Typically used to describe hair that is loose, tangled, and hanging down untidily.

2. Adverb:

   • In a limp, weak, or uncontrolled manner: Modifies a verb to describe an action performed with a complete lack of energy or with the body swaying weakly, such as crying or laughing uncontrollably.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Sau trận ốm, anh ấy trông rũ rượi. (After the illness, he looked haggard.)
  • Mái tóc rũ rượi của cô ấy xõa xuống vai. (Her disheveled hair fell loosely over her shoulders.)

• Adverb:

  • Cô bé khóc rũ rượi. (The little girl cried uncontrollably, her body limp.)
  • Họ cười rũ rượi sau câu chuyện vui. (They laughed uproariously, their bodies shaking weakly.)

Advanced Usage

• The word vividly conveys a sense of being drained of all vitality, to the point where one's physical form appears to droop or sag without strength.
• It often implies a state resulting from severe illness, intense emotional distress, or extreme physical labor.

Variants and Related Words

• Rũ rợi: An older or variant spelling with the same meaning as .
• Rũ xuống (verb phrase): to droop down, to hang down limply.
  • Cành cây rũ xuống vì gió. (The tree branch drooped down because of the wind.)

Synonyms

• Haggard: Looking exhausted and unwell.
• Disheveled: Untidy, disordered (especially for hair).
• Limp: Lacking stiffness or strength.
• Exhausted: Drained of energy.

Related Idioms

• While itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, its imagery is central to descriptive phrases about extreme states of fatigue or disarray.
  • Người như tàu lá chuối rũ rượi: (A person) like a banana leaf hanging utterly limp.

adj

1. emaciated; haggard