trầm mình
Definition
- Verb (reflexive):
- To drown oneself: The primary meaning of "trầm mình" is the deliberate act of submerging oneself in water with the intent to end one's life; to commit suicide by drowning.
- To immerse oneself: In a figurative and literary sense, it can mean to deeply immerse or lose oneself in a particular state, activity, or environment, often one that is overwhelming.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Người ta nói cô ấy đã trầm mình xuống sông vì tuyệt vọng. (They say she drowned herself in the river out of despair.)
- Anh ấy trầm mình trong công việc để quên đi nỗi buồn. (He immerses himself in work to forget his sorrow.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is often used in formal, literary, or journalistic contexts when reporting on suicide or describing profound psychological states. It carries a heavy, solemn connotation.
Variants and Related Words
- Trầm (v): to sink, to submerge. This is the root verb.
- Tự trầm (v): a synonym meaning to drown oneself; to commit suicide by drowning.
- Tự vẫn (v): to commit suicide (general term).
- Chết đuối (v): to drown (accidental or general).
Synonyms
- To drown oneself: the direct equivalent for the literal meaning.
- To commit suicide by drowning: a more explicit phrase.
- To immerse oneself: for the figurative meaning.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- Trầm mình trong đau khổ: to be immersed/engulfed in suffering.
- Sau biến cố, ông ấy trầm mình trong đau khổ. (After the incident, he was engulfed in suffering.)
- Trầm mình trong quá khứ: to be lost in the past.
- Bà cứ trầm mình trong những ký ức xưa cũ. (She keeps getting lost in old memories.)