tinh quái
Definition
- Adjective:
- Sly / Cunning: Possessing or showing a clever, often mischievous, understanding of how to achieve one's aims, sometimes by trickery or deceit.
- Mischievous / Roguish: Playfully shrewd or naughty, often in a way that is more amusing than harmful.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Đứa trẻ đó rất tinh quái, luôn nghĩ ra những trò chơi khó. (That child is very sly, always thinking up tricky games.)
- Nó cười một cách tinh quái khi bí mật được tiết lộ. (He smiled mischievously when the secret was revealed.)
- Con mèo có ánh mắt tinh quái, như đang lên kế hoạch điều gì đó. (The cat had a cunning look in its eyes, as if planning something.)
Advanced Usage
- The word often describes a cleverness that is inherent and instinctive, not necessarily learned. It can carry a tone of reluctant admiration for someone's sharp wit or playful trickery.
Variants and Related Words
Tinh ranh (adj): Sharp, smart, and perceptive (often used for children or animals). Can be very close in meaning to tinh quái but may lack the stronger mischievous or roguish connotation.
- Con bé tinh ranh, hiểu chuyện người lớn lắm. (That girl is sharp, she understands adult matters very well.)
Quỷ quái (adj): More strongly emphasizes being devilish, wicked, or supernatural in cleverness. It is often more negative than tinh quái.
- Hắn ta có những mưu mô quỷ quái. (He has devilish schemes.)
Synonyms
- Cunning: Skilled in achieving one's ends by deceit.
- Sly: Having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature.
- Mischievous: Causing or showing a fondness for playful, harmless tricks.
- Shrewd: Having or showing sharp powers of judgment; astute.
- Wily: Skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully.
Related Idioms
- Tinh quái như quỷ: As cunning as a devil. Used to emphasize extreme cleverness and mischievousness.
- Đừng tin hắn, hắn tinh quái như quỷ đấy. (Don't trust him, he's as cunning as a devil.)