Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Mischievously malicious; wickedly cruel: Describes a person, action, or force that is intentionally harmful, causing suffering or damage, often with a sense of deliberate spite or perversity.
   • Pernicious; baleful: Describes something (like an event or natural phenomenon) that has a severely harmful or destructive effect.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (describing a person):
  • Người mẹ ghẻ tai ác. (The wickedly cruel stepmother.)
  • Sao mày tai ác thế? (Why are you so malicious?)
• Adjective (describing an event/force):
  • Trận mưa đá tai ác làm dập nát hoa màu. (The baleful hailstorm crushed the crops.)

Advanced Usage

• The word often carries a stronger moral condemnation than simply "mean" (), implying a twisted or perverse nature in the harm caused.
• It can be used in literary contexts to describe fate or misfortune that seems deliberately cruel.

Variants and Related Words

• Ác (adj): evil, wicked. A simpler, more common root meaning "evil."
• Độc ác (adj): cruel, vicious. Often interchangeable but may imply more overt brutality.
• Hiểm ác (adj): malicious and treacherous, combining cunning with wickedness.

Synonyms

• Malicious: characterized by malice; intending to do harm.
• Baleful: threatening harm; menacing.
• Pernicious: having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
• Wicked: evil or morally wrong.

Related Idioms

• Lòng dạ tai ác: a malicious heart/mind.
  • Hắn ta có lòng dạ tai ác. (He has a malicious heart.)

adj

1. mischievously malicious