rờ rợ

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Eerie, creepy, or unsettling: Describes a feeling of vague fear, discomfort, or unease, often caused by something strange, mysterious, or suggestive of the supernatural. It implies a sense of dread that is disturbing and lingering.
   • Grisly, macabre: Can describe something that is horrifying or repellent, often related to death or violence, causing a shudder of fear.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Căn nhà bỏ hoang trông thật rờ rợ. (The abandoned house looks really eerie.)
  • Câu chuyện ma đó nghe rất rờ rợ. (That ghost story sounds very creepy.)
  • Hắn kể lại chi tiết rờ rợ về vụ án. (He recounted the grisly details of the case.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is often used to describe atmospheres, stories, appearances, or feelings that provoke a primitive, instinctual fear. It is stronger than simply "scary" () and carries connotations of something being ominously and disturbingly strange.

Variants and Related Words

• Rợ (adj): A shorter, sometimes more intense or colloquial form meaning frightening, savage, or eerie. "Rờ rợ" is an emphatic reduplication of this root.
  • Khu rừng về đêm im ắng một cách rợ người. (The forest at night is quiet in a frightening way.)

Synonyms

• Eerie: Strange and frightening.
• Creepy: Causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease.
• Uncanny: Strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way.
• Macabre: Dealing with death in a disturbing or gruesome way.

Related Idioms

• Rờ rợ sống lưng: Literally "to make one's spine creep," meaning to cause a shudder of fear or a creepy feeling down one's spine.
  • Tiếng hú trong đêm khiến tôi rờ rợ sống lưng. (The howl in the night made my spine creep.)