tiếm đoạt
Definition
- Verb:
- To usurp: To seize and hold (a position, office, power, or title) by force or without legal right. This is the core meaning, often used in historical or formal contexts concerning authority.
- To arrogate: To take or claim (something, especially a right or privilege) for oneself without justification.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Kẻ phản bội đã tiếm đoạt ngai vàng. (The traitor usurped the throne.)
- Hắn ta tiếm đoạt quyền lãnh đạo khi tổng giám đốc vắng mặt. (He arrogated leadership to himself when the director was absent.)
- Việc tiếm đoạt tài sản là một tội nghiêm trọng. (The usurpation of property is a serious crime.)
Advanced Usage
- The word "tiếm đoạt" carries a strong negative connotation of illegitimacy and wrongful seizure. It is primarily used in formal, legal, or historical writing rather than everyday conversation.
- It can be used with abstract concepts like authority, power, rights, or with concrete objects like property or a throne.
Variants and Related Words
Tiếm vị (v): To usurp a position. Often used synonymously with "tiếm đoạt ngôi vị."
- Âm mưu tiếm vị đã bị phát hiện. (The plot to usurp the position was discovered.)
Kẻ tiếm đoạt (n): A usurper.
- Kẻ tiếm đoạt đã bị lật đổ. (The usurper was overthrown.)
Synonyms
- Usurp: To take a position of power illegally or by force.
- Arrogate: To take something without right.
- Seize: To take hold of suddenly and forcibly (can be neutral, but context gives it a negative meaning here).
- Appropriate wrongfully: To take possession of something without permission.
Related Idioms
- Tiếm đoạt ngôi vua/vị: To usurp the king's throne/position. This is the most classic and common collocation for this word.
- Lịch sử ghi lại nhiều vụ tiếm đoạt ngôi vua. (History records many instances of usurping the king's throne.)