tránh mặt

Anh ấy tránh mặt người bạn cũ vì ngại gặp lại.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To avoid meeting someone; to stay away from someone's presence: The primary meaning of "tránh mặt" is to deliberately arrange not to be present or seen by a specific person or group of people, often due to feelings of shame, debt, awkwardness, or a desire to evade a situation.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ấy đang tránh mặt chủ nợ. (He is avoiding his creditors.)
  • Sau lần thất hứa, cô ấy tránh mặt tôi cả tuần. (After breaking her promise, she avoided me for a whole week.)
  • Tôi không muốn gặp họ nên đã tránh mặt. (I didn't want to meet them, so I stayed away.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies a temporary or tactical avoidance rather than a permanent cut-off. It suggests the person being avoided is actively looking for or expects to see the subject.

Variants and Related Words

• Tránh (v): to avoid, to dodge. A more general term.

  • Tránh xe cộ. (To avoid traffic.)

• Lẩn tránh (v): to evade, to dodge (often with a sense of hiding).

  • Lẩn tránh trách nhiệm. (To evade responsibility.)

Synonyms

• Avoid: to keep away from.
• Evade: to escape or avoid, especially by cleverness or trickery.
• Steer clear of: to deliberately avoid someone or something.

Related Idioms

• Tránh voi chẳng xấu mặt nào: A proverb meaning "avoiding an elephant is no disgrace to one's face," similar to "discretion is the better part of valour." It justifies avoiding a powerful or troublesome person/situation.
  • Anh ấy tránh mặt ông giám đốc đang giận dữ, đúng là tránh voi chẳng xấu mặt nào. (He avoided the angry director; indeed, discretion is the better part of valour.)