Definition

1. Adjective:
   • To be worse off: The primary meaning of "suy đốn" describes a state of decline where someone or something (like a family, business, or individual's circumstances) has become poorer, more difficult, or of lower status than before. It implies a fall from a previously better condition into hardship or destitution.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Gia đình anh ấy đã trở nên suy đốn sau trận hỏa hoạn. (His family became worse off after the fire.)
  • Công ty rơi vào cảnh suy đốn do quản lý kém. (The company fell into a worse-off state due to poor management.)
  • Sức khỏe của ông cụ ngày càng suy đốn. (The old man's health is increasingly in decline.)

Advanced Usage

• "suy đốn tinh thần": moral or spiritual decline.
  • Xã hội đó đang đối mặt với nguy cơ suy đốn tinh thần. (That society is facing the risk of moral decline.)

Variants and Related Words

• Suy sụp (adj): to collapse, to break down (often used for mental state, health, or fortunes). It is stronger than "suy đốn."

  • Sau cú sốc, tinh thần cô ấy suy sụp hoàn toàn. (After the shock, her spirit completely collapsed.)

• Suy vi (adj): to decline, to decay (often used for families, dynasties, or eras).

  • Triều đại đó dần suy vi vì nội chiến. (That dynasty gradually declined due to civil war.)

Synonyms

• Impoverished: reduced to poverty.
• Declined: having become worse in condition.
• Destitute: extremely poor and lacking the means to provide for oneself.

Related Idioms

• Suy đồi: to degenerate, to become depraved. This often refers specifically to moral decay, whereas "suy đốn" is more general.

  • Lối sống ấy dẫn đến suy đồi đạo đức. (That lifestyle leads to moral degeneration.)

• Sa sút: to deteriorate, to decline (commonly used for health, finances, or academic performance).

  • Tài chính gia đình bắt đầu sa sút. (The family's finances began to deteriorate.)

1. Be worse off
   • Gia đình nó suy đốn
     His family is worse off