thảm bại
Definition
Noun:
- A crushing defeat; a disastrous failure: A complete and humiliating loss in a competition, battle, or endeavor, often accompanied by a sense of tragedy or severe consequence.
Verb (to suffer a crushing defeat):
- To be crushingly defeated; to suffer a disastrous failure: The act of experiencing a complete and humiliating loss. This is often used in the passive voice or as a resultative verb.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- Trận thua đó là một thảm bại cho đội chủ nhà. (That loss was a crushing defeat for the home team.)
- Dự án kết thúc trong thảm bại. (The project ended in disastrous failure.)
Verb:
- Đội bóng đã thảm bại với tỉ số 0-5. (The football team suffered a crushing defeat with a score of 0-5.)
- Kế hoạch của họ thảm bại hoàn toàn. (Their plan failed disastrously.)
Advanced Usage
- The word "thảm bại" carries a stronger emotional weight than simple words for losing like "thua". It implies not just loss, but a loss that is devastating, shameful, or tragic.
- It is commonly used in contexts of war, sports, politics, and major business ventures.
Variants and Related Words
- Thất bại (n/v): Failure; to fail. This is a more general and neutral term for failure, lacking the connotation of humiliation found in "thảm bại".
- Đại bại (n): A great defeat. Similar to "thảm bại" but may focus more on the scale of the loss rather than the shame.
- Thảm họa (n): Disaster, catastrophe. While "thảm họa" refers to a general disaster, "thảm bại" is specifically a disastrous or .
Synonyms
- Crushing defeat
- Disastrous failure
- Debacle
- Rout (especially in military/sports contexts)
Related Idioms
- Nếm mùi thảm bại: To taste (the bitterness of) crushing defeat.
- Đối thủ đã phải nếm mùi thảm bại. (The opponent had to taste the bitterness of a crushing defeat.)
- Thảm bại ê chề: An utterly humiliating defeat (intensifies the shame).
- Họ chấp nhận thảm bại ê chề. (They accepted an utterly humiliating defeat.)