Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Whimsical / Capricious: Describing a situation, fate, or circumstance that seems to mock or tease in a frustrating, perplexing, or oddly ironic way.
   • Cruelly ironic: Conveying a sense of bitter, paradoxical, or perverse irony that causes distress or complication.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Hoàn cảnh của họ thật trớ trêu. (Their situation is truly whimsical/cruelly ironic.)
  • Số phận trớ trêu khiến họ gặp nhau ở đây. (A whimsical fate made them meet here.)
  • Đó là một kết quả trớ trêu của lịch sử. (That is a cruelly ironic result of history.)

Advanced Usage

• The word often describes abstract concepts like fate, destiny, situations, or outcomes, emphasizing their paradoxical and frustrating nature.
  • Sự trớ trêu của cuộc đời (The irony of life).

Variants and Related Words

• Sự trớ trêu (n): The irony; the whimsical/capricious nature of a situation.
  • Tôi không thể chịu đựng được sự trớ trêu này. (I cannot bear this irony.)

Synonyms

• Ironic: Containing a paradoxical or unexpected outcome.
• Perverse: Contrary to what is expected or desired.
• Capricious: Given to sudden changes, whimsical.

Related Idioms

• While "trớ trêu" itself is often used in descriptive phrases, a common related concept is:
  • Oái oăm trớ trêu: Emphasizing a doubly twisted, perplexing, and ironic misfortune.

    • Tình huống vừa oái oăm vừa trớ trêu. (The situation is both twisted and cruelly ironic.)

adj

1. whimsical