Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Emaciated, haggard, worn-out: Describes a person's appearance as extremely thin, weak, and exhausted due to illness, suffering, or hardship.
   • Dilapidated, shabby, decrepit: Describes an object, structure, or overall appearance as being in a very poor, broken-down, and neglected condition.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (describing a person):

  • Sau trận ốm nặng, anh ấy trông thật tiều tụy. (After the serious illness, he looked truly emaciated.)
  • Gương mặt tiều tụy vì lo lắng. (A face haggard with worry.)

• Adjective (describing a thing or state):

  • Căn nhà hoang trông tiều tụy dưới mưa. (The abandoned house looked dilapidated in the rain.)
  • Khu vườn tiều tụy vì thiếu nước. (The garden was withered from lack of water.)

Advanced Usage

• The word often carries a strong emotional connotation of pity or sadness towards the state of decay or decline, whether physical or metaphorical.
• It can be used metaphorically to describe non-physical things that appear depleted or spiritless.
  • Niềm tin tiều tụy. (A withered faith.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tiều tuỵ: This is an accepted alternate spelling of the same word.
• Tàn tạ (adj): faded, decaying, often used for plants or beauty, sharing the sense of decline.
• Xơ xác (adj): ragged, desolate, often describing landscapes or torn objects.

Synonyms

• Emaciated: abnormally thin or weak.
• Haggard: looking exhausted and unwell.
• Dilapidated: in a state of disrepair or ruin.
• Decrepit: worn out or ruined from age or neglect.
• Withered: shriveled or faded, often from lack of vitality.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Thân hình tiều tụy: an emaciated body.
• Vẻ mặt tiều tụy: a haggard expression.
• Cũ nát và tiều tụy: old, broken, and dilapidated.

adj

1. emaciated, shabby