tủi
Definition
- Adjective:
- Feeling hurt and sorrowful: A state of sadness arising from a sense of personal humiliation, wounded pride, or self-pity, often due to perceived unfair treatment or insult.
- Feeling resentful and sorry for oneself: A complex emotion combining grief and bitterness directed inward, typically because one feels wronged or undervalued.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Cô ấy cảm thấy rất tủi thân khi bị chỉ trích trước mặt mọi người. (She felt deeply hurt and humiliated when criticized in front of everyone.)
- Đứa trẻ nhìn tủi vì không được chơi cùng. (The child looked sorrowfully resentful because it couldn't join the play.)
- Anh ấy tủi hổ vì thất bại của chính mình. (He felt ashamed and sorrowful because of his own failure.)
Advanced Usage
The word "tủi" is very often used in its reduplicated form "tủi tủi" to express a lingering, subdued, or somewhat softened state of this sorrowful resentment.
- Nghe xong, nó ngồi im với vẻ mặt tủi tủi. (After listening, it sat quietly with a somewhat hurt and sorrowful expression.)
"tủi thân": A very common compound meaning to feel sorry for oneself, to feel personally wounded and humiliated.
- Sống xa nhà, đôi lúc cô ấy không khỏi tủi thân. (Living far from home, sometimes she couldn't help but feel sorry for herself.)
Variants and Related Words
Tủi hổ (adj): Combines "tủi" (hurt sorrow) with "hổ" (shame), meaning to feel deeply ashamed and humiliated.
- Hành động đó khiến anh ta vô cùng tủi hổ. (That action made him feel extremely ashamed and humiliated.)
Tủi nhục (adj): Combines "tủi" with "nhục" (disgrace), meaning to feel disgraced and deeply resentful.
Synonyms
- Hurt: feeling emotional pain or distress.
- Resentful: feeling bitterness or indignation at having been treated unfairly.
- Sorrowful: feeling or showing grief.
- Humiliated: made to feel ashamed and foolish by injury to one's dignity.
Related Idioms and Phrases
Giận duyên tổi phận: A classical literary phrase expressing anger at fate and sorrow for one's lot in life, often used to describe a woman's lament about her unfortunate destiny.
- Câu chuyện của bà là một câu chuyện giận duyên tủi phận. (Her story is one of anger at fate and sorrow for her lot.)
Tủi lòng: To feel a pang of hurt/sorrow in one's heart.
- Nhìn cảnh ấy, ai cũng thấy tủi lòng. (Seeing that scene, everyone felt a pang of sorrow.)