Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Costly; expensive: Involving a significant or considerable expenditure of money, resources, or time. It describes something that requires a high cost or is financially burdensome.
   • Extravagant; wasteful: Implies not just high cost but also a sense of unnecessary or excessive spending.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Dự án xây dựng này rất tốn kém. (This construction project is very costly.)
  • Việc sửa chữa ô tô cũ có thể tốn kém hơn mua xe mới. (Repairing an old car can be more expensive than buying a new one.)
  • Lối sống của anh ấy khá tốn kém. (His lifestyle is quite extravagant.)

Advanced Usage

• Used to describe abstract costs such as time or effort.
  • Việc thương lượng kéo dài rất tốn kém thời gian. (The prolonged negotiations are very time-consuming/costly in terms of time.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tốn (verb): to cost, to consume, to spend. Often used in combination.

  • Công việc này tốn nhiều giấy. (This job uses a lot of paper.)

• Kém (adjective): poor, inferior, less. In "tốn kém," it intensifies the sense of loss or expense.

Synonyms

• Expensive: costing a lot of money.
• Costly: involving great expense or loss.
• Extravagant: lacking restraint in spending money or using resources.

Related Idioms

• Tốn kém tiền của: to waste/cost a lot of money and assets.
  • Thói quen mua sắm đó tốn kém tiền của. (That shopping habit wastes a lot of money and assets.)

adj

1. costly