Definition

1. Noun:

   • Decay: The process of gradual deterioration, weakening, or loss of strength, vitality, or power, often leading to an end or collapse.
   • Decline: A state of gradual and continuous decrease in quality, power, importance, or vigor; a movement toward a weaker or inferior condition.

2. Verb (intransitive):

   • To decline: To move from a better to a worse state; to lose strength, prosperity, or influence over time.
   • To decay: To fall into ruin or a state of disrepair; to undergo a process of decomposition or degeneration.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Sự suy tàn của đế chế là không thể tránh khỏi. (The decay of the empire was inevitable.)
  • Chúng ta đang chứng kiến sự suy tàn của các giá trị truyền thống. (We are witnessing the decline of traditional values.)

• Verb:

  • Nền văn minh đó đã suy tàn sau nhiều thế kỷ huy hoàng. (That civilization declined after many centuries of glory.)
  • Sức khỏe của ông ấy bắt đầu suy tàn nhanh chóng. (His health began to decay rapidly.)

Advanced Usage

• Used to describe abstract concepts like dynasties, empires, cultures, ideologies, or moral values entering a terminal phase of weakness.
• Often implies an irreversible process leading to an end, not just a temporary setback.

Variants and Related Words

• Suy yếu (v): to weaken, to become feeble. Focuses more on the loss of strength.
• Tàn lụi (v): to wither, to fade away. Often used for plants or hopes, emphasizing a fading out.
• Suy đồi (v/n): to degenerate, degeneration. Often carries a stronger moral connotation of corruption.

Synonyms

• Decline: A gradual and continuous loss of strength, number, quality, or value.
• Decay: The process of rotting or falling apart, either physically or metaphorically.
• Wane: To decrease in vigor, power, or extent; often used for influence or phases.
• Degeneration: The state or process of being or becoming degenerate; decline to a lower state.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Thời kỳ suy tàn: The period of decline/decadence.
  • Triều đại đó bước vào thời kỳ suy tàn. (That dynasty entered its period of decline.)
• Sức cùng lực tàn: To be exhausted, at the end of one's strength (often physical). While not using "suy tàn" directly, it describes a similar state of depletion.

noun

1. decay, declination