Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Treacherously wicked; insidiously malicious: Describes a person, action, or nature that is deceitfully cruel, combining cunning with a harmful intent that is often hidden or unexpected.
   • Viciously cunning: Characterized by a sly, underhanded, and profoundly harmful malevolence.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Hắn ta là một kẻ thiểm độc, luôn lợi dụng lòng tin của người khác để hãm hại họ. (He is a treacherously wicked person, always exploiting others' trust to harm them.)
  • Âm mưu của họ thật sự rất thiểm độc. (Their plot is truly insidiously malicious.)
  • Lời nói thiểm độc của cô ấy đã làm tổn thương nhiều người. (Her viciously cunning words have hurt many people.)

Advanced Usage

• Used primarily to describe a profound level of moral corruption where deceit and malice are intertwined. It implies a calculated, sneaky form of evil, more severe than simply being mean or angry.

Variants and Related Words

• Thâm độc (adj): Profoundly wicked and deep-seated in malice. Often used similarly, though "thiểm độc" emphasizes treacherous sneakiness.
• Nham hiểm (adj): Cunning and cruel; crafty and malicious. A close synonym.
• Hiểm độc (adj): Dangerous and poisonous; malicious and harmful.

Synonyms

• Perfidious: Deceitful and untrustworthy.
• Insidious: Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way but with harmful effects.
• Treacherous: Guilty of or involving betrayal or deception.
• Malicious: Characterized by malice; intending to do harm.

Related Idioms

• Lòng dạ thiểm độc: A treacherously wicked heart or mind.
  • Đừng tin tưởng hắn, hắn có lòng dạ thiểm độc. (Don't trust him; he has a treacherously wicked heart.)
• Thủ đoạn thiểm độc: Treacherously wicked tactics or tricks.
  • Họ dùng những thủ đoạn thiểm độc để hạ gục đối thủ. (They used treacherously wicked tactics to defeat their rival.)