Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Financially strapped / in dire straits: The primary meaning describes a state of severe financial hardship, lacking the necessary money for basic needs and living expenses.
   • Penniless / destitute: It indicates a condition of extreme poverty where one has little to no money.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Gia đình anh ấy đang rất túng bấn. (His family is in dire financial straits.)
  • Sau trận dịch, nhiều người rơi vào cảnh túng bấn. (After the epidemic, many people fell into destitution.)
  • Thời gian túng bấn khiến họ phải tiết kiệm từng đồng. (The period of financial hardship forced them to save every penny.)

Advanced Usage

• The word often carries a connotation of a prolonged, pressing, and difficult situation, not just a temporary shortage. It implies a struggle to make ends meet.

Variants and Related Words

• Túng quẫn (adj): distressed, in a tight corner (often financial, but can extend to other difficult situations).

  • Công ty đang trong tình thế túng quẫn. (The company is in a distressed situation.)

• Khó khăn (adj): difficult, hard (a broader term for hardship, which can include financial difficulty).

  • Họ gặp khó khăn về tài chính. (They are facing financial difficulties.)

Synonyms

• Impoverished: reduced to poverty.
• Needy: lacking the necessities of life; very poor.
• Hard up: having very little money.

Related Idioms

• Túng bấn đến mức: so destitute that...

  • Họ túng bấn đến mức phải bán đi căn nhà. (They were so destitute they had to sell their house.)

• Cảnh túng bấn: a state of destitution.

  • Cảnh túng bấn kéo dài nhiều năm. (The state of destitution lasted for many years.)