Definition

1. Verb:
   • To sniffle, to snuffle: To inhale or breathe in sharply and audibly through the nose, especially to prevent mucus from running out or due to crying or having a cold. This is the primary and most common meaning.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Em bé bị cảm, sụt sịt cả ngày. (The baby has a cold and sniffles all day.)
  • Nghe câu chuyện buồn, cô ấy khóc sụt sịt. (Hearing the sad story, she wept and sniffled.)
  • Anh ấy sịt mũi vì trời lạnh. (He is sniffling because of the cold weather.)

Advanced Usage

• "Sụt sịt": This is a common reduplicative form of 'sịt'. It emphasizes a repeated, continuous, or more pronounced action of sniffling, often with a connotation of slight distress, sadness, or a persistent cold.
  • Đứa trẻ sụt sịt suốt buổi tối. (The child sniffled all evening.)
• The word is almost exclusively used in the context of nasal sounds related to crying, sadness, or illness (like a runny nose).

Variants and Related Words

• Sụt sịt (verb, reduplicative form): To sniffle repeatedly, to snuffle.
• Sịt mũi (verb phrase): To sniffle (specifically through the nose). This is a very common collocation.
• Xì mũi (verb): To blow one's nose. (This is a different, though related, action).

Synonyms

• Thút thít (verb): To sob quietly, often accompanied by sniffling. It focuses more on the crying aspect.
• Khụt khịt (verb): To snort or sniffle, often describing the sound of a congested nose.

Notes on Different Meanings

• The definition "of a dull black; livid" (e.g., ) is an adjectival usage found in compound words, but it is not the primary meaning of the isolated verb 'sịt'. The core and most frequent meaning of 'sịt' alone is the action related to sniffling.
• In modern Vietnamese, when used alone, 'sịt' is understood as the verb meaning "to sniffle." The adjectival meaning is only active in specific, fixed compound words like "thâm sịt."

Related Phrases (Collocations)

• Khóc sụt sịt: To cry and sniffle.
• Sụt sịt mũi: To have a sniffling nose.
• Nói sụt sịt: To speak while sniffling (e.g., while crying).

1. Of a dull black; livid
   • Môi thâm sịt
     To have livid lips
2. Sniff
   • Sụt sịt
     To sniff noisily, to snufle
   • Sụt sịt mũi
     To snuffle through one's nose
   • Khóc sụt sịt
     To weep and sniff noisily