Definition

1. Adjective (informal):
   • Completely broke; flat broke; penniless: To have no money left at all, to be in a state of total financial depletion.
   • Stunned and motionless; dumbfounded; left speechless: To be so shocked, embarrassed, or scolded that one becomes immobile and unable to react or respond.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau chuyến du lịch, ví tôi trơ thổ địa. (After the trip, my wallet is completely empty.)
  • Bị phát hiện nói dối, nó đứng trơ thổ địa một chỗ. (Caught lying, he stood there dumbfounded.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often describes a state of having nothing left, whether money, resources, or even arguments, leaving a person exposed or vulnerable.
• It can imply a sense of being stripped bare, left with nothing to hide behind, leading to the stunned, reactionless state.

Variants and Related Words

• Trơ trọi (adj): bare, isolated, exposed.

  • Cánh đồng trơ trọi. (The field is bare and isolated.)

• Hết sạch (adj/phrase): all gone, completely used up.

  • Tiền tiêu hết sạch. (The money was all spent.)

Synonyms

• Penniless: having no money.
• Dumbstruck: so shocked or surprised that one cannot speak.
• Bereft: deprived of or lacking something.

Related Idioms

• Trơ như phỗng: to sit/stand still and unresponsive like a statue.

  • Nghe tin sốc, anh ấy trơ như phỗng. (Hearing the shocking news, he was as still as a statue.)

• Hết tiền hết bạc: to be completely out of money.

  • Cuối tháng là hết tiền hết bạc. (By the end of the month, I'm completely out of money.)