rờm mắt
Definition
- Adjective (colloquial, often Southern Vietnamese dialect):
- Visually cluttered or overwhelming: Describes something that is excessively busy, messy, or crowded in appearance, causing a feeling of visual discomfort or irritation to the viewer.
- Gaudy or tacky: Can refer to something that is showy in a vulgar or tasteless way, offending aesthetic sensibilities.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Trang trí quá nhiều đèn màu nhấp nháy, rờm mắt quá! (Too many flashing colored lights are decorated, it's so visually overwhelming!)
- Cái áo đó họa tiết loạn xạ, nhìn rờm mắt. (That shirt has chaotic patterns, it looks gaudy.)
- Bảng hiệu quảng cáo dày đặc khiến người đi đường rờm mắt. (The dense cluster of advertising signs makes passersby feel visually irritated.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is primarily used in spoken language and carries a subjective, critical judgment about visual appeal. It implies that the object or scene lacks harmony, simplicity, or elegance.
Variants and Related Words
- Rối mắt (adj): A more common synonym meaning visually confusing or messy.
- Giao diện phần mềm này quá rối mắt. (This software interface is too visually confusing.)
Synonyms
- Cluttered: Filled with too many things, messy.
- Overwhelming: Too intense to look at.
- Gaudy: Extravagantly bright or showy, typically so as to be tasteless.
- Busy: Having a lot of small details that are confusing.
Related Idioms
- While "rờm mắt" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, it is conceptually related to expressions criticizing poor visual design or excess.
- Loè loẹt (adj): Gaudy, flashy in a cheap way.
- Trang phục loè loẹt. (A flashy costume.)