Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Unpleasant to hear / grating to the ear: Describes a sound, word, or statement that causes discomfort, annoyance, or offense to the listener because it is harsh, discordant, rude, or morally offensive.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Lời nói thô tục đó thật trái tai. (That vulgar language is very unpleasant to hear.)
  • Tiếng cào bảng là âm thanh trái tai nhất. (The sound of scratching a chalkboard is the most grating sound.)
  • Đề nghị của họ nghe rất trái tai. (Their proposal sounds very offensive.)

Advanced Usage

• Often used in formal or literary contexts to describe ideas or speech that are socially, morally, or aesthetically unacceptable.
  • Những luận điệu bịa đặt ấy thật trái tai. (Those fabricated arguments are truly offensive to the ear.)

Variants and Related Words

• Trái mắt (adj): unpleasant to the eye, eyesore. These two terms are frequently paired.
  • Cảnh tượng trái mắt trái tai. (A scene that is an eyesore and an earsore.)

Synonyms

• Grating: irritating or unpleasant to hear.
• Discordant: lacking harmony; sounding harsh.
• Offensive: causing someone to feel deeply hurt, upset, or angry.
• Jarring: incongruous in a striking or shocking way; clashing.

Related Idioms

• Trái tai gai mắt: An idiom meaning "an eyesore and an earsore," used to describe something that is both visually and audibly offensive, disturbing, or unacceptable.
  • Hành vi ấy thật trái tai gai mắt. (That behavior is both an earsore and an eyesore.)