Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Very bad, terrible, awful: Describes something of extremely low quality, very poor condition, or a highly negative situation.
   • Mean, despicable: Describes a person's character or behavior that is morally bad, nasty, or contemptible.

Usage Examples

• Describing quality or condition:
  • Thời tiết hôm nay thật tồi tệ. (The weather today is truly awful.)
  • Dịch vụ ở khách sạn đó rất tồi tệ. (The service at that hotel is very bad.)
• Describing character or behavior:
  • Anh ta đối xử với nhân viên một cách tồi tệ. (He treats his employees in a terrible/mean way.)
  • Đó là một hành động tồi tệ. (That was a despicable act.)

Advanced Usage

• "tồi tệ đi": to worsen, to deteriorate, to become worse.
  • Tình hình kinh tế đang tồi tệ đi. (The economic situation is worsening.)
• "tồi tệ hơn": worse, even more terrible.
  • Mọi thứ trở nên tồi tệ hơn tôi tưởng. (Everything became worse than I thought.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tồi (adj): bad, poor, inferior (often used in compounds or formal contexts).
  • hàng tồi (inferior goods)
• Tệ (adj): bad, poor.
  • tệ hại (disastrous, terrible) - emphasizes a disastrous result.
  • tệ bạc (ungrateful, heartless) - specifically for ungrateful behavior.

Synonyms

• Xấu: bad (general).
• Kém: poor, inferior.
• Tệ hại: disastrous, terrible.
• Đáng kinh: despicable, contemptible (for character).
• Tàn nhẫn: cruel, brutal (for behavior).

Related Phrases

• Tình cảnh tồi tệ: a terrible/dire situation.
  • Gia đình họ lâm vào tình cảnh tồi tệ sau trận bão. (Their family fell into a dire situation after the storm.)
• Sức khỏe tồi tệ: poor/terrible health.
  • Ông ấy đang có sức khỏe tồi tệ. (He is in poor health.)

Related Idioms

• Tồi tệ như ma lem: As terrible as a ghost/specter (used for emphasis, meaning extremely bad).
  • Căn phòng ấy bừa bộn tồi tệ như ma lem. (That room is as terribly messy as a haunted place.)
• Đen tối và tồi tệ: Dark and terrible (describes a grim situation).
  • Tương lai có vẻ đen tối và tồi tệ. (The future looks dark and terrible.)

adj

1. mean, bad