trụi lủi
Definition
- Adjective:
- Completely bare, utterly stripped, or stark naked: Describes something that has been wholly denuded of its natural covering, such as leaves, hair, or foliage, leaving it exposed and bare. It emphasizes a state of total loss or removal.
- Completely destitute or having nothing left: Used figuratively to describe a state of having lost all possessions or resources, being left with absolutely nothing.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Sau trận cháy rừng, những ngọn đồi trụi lủi. (After the forest fire, the hills were completely bare.)
- Mùa đông, cây cối trụi lủi. (In winter, the trees are utterly stripped of leaves.)
- Công ty phá sản, ông ấy giờ trụi lủi. (The company went bankrupt, and now he is left with absolutely nothing.)
Advanced Usage
- The word often carries a stronger, more vivid connotation than the simpler word "trụi" (bare). It can imply a shocking, severe, or pitiful state of bareness or loss.
- It is frequently used in descriptive writing to evoke imagery of desolation or complete exposure.
Variants and Related Words
- Trụi (adj): bare, stripped. A simpler form with a similar meaning but less intensive.
- Cành cây trụi lá. (The branch is bare of leaves.)
- Trụi thùi lủi (adj): An intensified variant of "trụi lủi," emphasizing an even stronger degree of bareness or destitution.
Synonyms
- Bare: Lacking the usual or appropriate covering.
- Denuded: Stripped of a covering or possession.
- Desolate: Barren, empty, and showing signs of devastation.
- Destitute: Extremely poor and lacking basic necessities (for the figurative sense).
Related Idioms
- While "trụi lủi" itself is not typically part of a fixed idiom, its figurative use functions idiomatically to describe total loss.
- Trụi lủi như nhộng: As bare as a silkworm pupa (a simile emphasizing complete nakedness or having nothing).