Definition

1. Verb:
   • To break away from; to leave; to separate oneself from: The core meaning of "thoát li" is to physically or ideologically detach oneself from a group, system, or environment, often implying a decisive or complete departure.
   • To be divorced from; to be detached from: It describes a state of separation where one thing loses connection with or becomes irrelevant to another, such as theory becoming disconnected from practice.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Ông ấy đã thoát li gia đình từ rất trẻ để đi theo cách mạng. (He left his family at a very young age to join the revolution.)
  • Lý thuyết này hoàn toàn thoát li thực tế. (This theory is completely divorced from reality.)
  • Một số thanh niên khao khát thoát li khỏi cuộc sống tẻ nhạt ở nông thôn. (Some young people yearn to break away from the monotonous life in the countryside.)

Advanced Usage

• "thoát li địa phương": to leave one's native place (often for work or revolutionary activity).

  • Nhiều cán bộ tiền khởi nghĩa đã thoát li địa phương. (Many pre-uprising cadres left their native places.)

• "cán bộ thoát li": a cadre who has left home/family (to devote themselves fully to revolutionary work, a historical term).

  • Bà nội tôi từng là một cán bộ thoát li. (My grandmother was once a cadre who left her family.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thoát (v): to escape, to get out of.

  • Thoát khỏi vòng vây. (To break out of an encirclement.)

• Ly khai (v): to secede, to break away (often with a stronger political connotation).

  • Một nhóm đã ly khai khỏi tổ chức. (A group seceded from the organization.)

Synonyms

• Break away from: to separate from a group.
• Leave: to go away from.
• Be divorced from: to be completely separate and unrelated to.

Related Idioms

• Thoát li thực tế: to be out of touch with reality; to be impractical.
  • Kế hoạch của họ thoát li thực tế, không thể thực hiện được. (Their plan is out of touch with reality and cannot be implemented.)