Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To evade a debt / To dodge a debt: The act of intentionally avoiding or escaping the responsibility of repaying money that one owes.
   • To skip out on a debt: To disappear or flee in order to not pay a creditor.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Anh ta đã bỏ thành phố để trốn nợ. (He left the city to evade his debts.)
  • Công ty đó đóng cửa và chủ sở hữu trốn nợ. (That company shut down and the owner skipped out on the debt.)
  • Trốn nợ là một hành vi phi pháp. (Evading debt is an illegal act.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies a deliberate, secretive, or dishonest action to avoid financial obligation, sometimes involving fleeing one's location.
• It can be used in both personal and commercial contexts.

Variants and Related Words

• Trốn tránh trách nhiệm (v): to shirk responsibility. (A broader term for avoiding any duty.)
• Vỡ nợ (v): to go bankrupt. (Focuses on the state of being unable to pay, not necessarily the act of evasion.)
• Nợ khó đòi (n): bad debt. (Describes the debt itself that is unlikely to be collected.)

Synonyms

• To default (on a debt): To fail to repay a loan according to the agreed terms.
• To abscond (with debts): To leave hurriedly and secretly to avoid creditors.
• To welch on a debt: (Informal) To fail to honor a debt or bet.

Related Idioms

• Chạy nợ: Similar to "trốn nợ," emphasizing the action of running away from debt.
  • Sợ chủ nợ đến tìm, hắn đang tính chuyện chạy nợ. (Afraid creditors would come looking, he is planning to run from his debts.)
• Treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó: Literally "to hang a goat's head but sell dog meat." This idiom describes fraud or deception, which can be related to the deceit inherent in "trốn nợ."