Definition

1. Noun:
   • The current situation or state of affairs: Refers to the overall social, political, and economic conditions and trends prevailing at a particular time.
   • The spirit of the times; the zeitgeist: Encompasses the dominant ideas, circumstances, and forces that characterize a specific historical period.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Thời thế tạo anh hùng. (The times create heroes.)
  • Phải biết nắm bắt thời thế. (One must know how to grasp the current situation.)
  • Ông ấy là một nhân vật của thời thế. (He is a man of his times.)

Advanced Usage

• "theo thời thế": to follow or adapt to the trends of the times.
  • Công ty đó biết cách kinh doanh theo thời thế. (That company knows how to do business in line with the times.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thời cuộc (n): the current state of affairs or situation (often with a political connotation).

  • Ông ấy am hiểu thời cuộc. (He has a deep understanding of the current affairs.)

• Thế thời (n): a less common variant with similar meaning to "thời thế," emphasizing the prevailing circumstances.

  • Thế thời bắt buộc. (The circumstances compel it.)

Synonyms

• Circumstances: The conditions and facts affecting a situation.
• Spirit of the age / Zeitgeist: The defining spirit or mood of a particular period.
• Trend of the times: The general direction in which society is developing.

Related Idioms

• Thời thế thế thời phải thế: An idiom expressing that one must act according to the demands and necessities of the prevailing situation.
  • Chẳng muốn thế, nhưng thời thế thế thời phải thế. (I didn't want it to be this way, but such are the times, so it must be so.)