tẩn mẩn

Thân thiện

Ông cụ tẩn mẩn sắp xếp những con tem vào cuốn album.

Definition

Adjective: - Patiently attentive, careful: Describes someone who works on something with great patience, meticulous attention to small details, and care, often to the point of losing track of time. It implies a focus on minor, sometimes trivial, tasks. - Meticulous, painstaking: Characterizes an action done with extreme thoroughness and precision, often concerning small or fiddly details.

Usage

The word tẩn mẩn is used to describe a person's manner or a specific action. It often carries a neutral or slightly negative connotation, suggesting the activity is minor, trivial, or excessively detailed. It is commonly used in the structure "ngồi tẩn mẩn + [verb]" (to sit and meticulously do something).

Examples

• (The old lady sat meticulously mending the shirt.)
• (He painstakingly rearranged his old stamp collection.)
• (Stop fiddling with those trivial things!)
• (The teacher carefully corrected every small mistake in the essay.)

Advanced Usage

• Tính tẩn mẩn: Refers to the characteristic of being meticulous or fussy about details.
  • Công việc thủ công đòi hỏi tính tẩn mẩn cao. (Handicraft work requires a high level of meticulousness.)
• Used to gently criticize someone for spending too much time on insignificant details.
  • Cả buổi sáng nó chỉ tẩn mẩn gọt bút chì, chẳng học được gì. (He spent the whole morning just fussily sharpening pencils and didn't learn anything.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tỉ mẩn / Tỉ mỉ (adj): Meticulous, thorough. These are more neutral and positive synonyms, often used for important tasks. Tẩn mẩn is more often used for trivial tasks.
  • Cô ấy làm việc rất tỉ mỉ. (She works very meticulously.)
• Cầu kỳ (adj): Elaborate, ornate. Focuses on complexity and decoration rather than patient attention to small details.
• Vụn vặt (adj): Trivial, petty. Describes the nature of the tasks themselves.

Synonyms

• Kỹ lưỡng: Careful, thorough.
• Cẩn thận: Careful, cautious.
• Kỹ càng: Meticulous, done with care.

Idioms and Common Phrases

• Ngồi tẩn mẩn: To sit and do something meticulously/fussily. This is the most common collocation.
  • Ông ấy thích ngồi tẩn mẩn sửa chữa đồng hồ. (He likes to sit and tinker meticulously with clocks.)
• Tẩn mẩn với công việc nhỏ: To be engrossed in minor work.
  • Bà ấy cứ tẩn mẩn với công việc nhỏ trong vườn suốt ngày. (She's always engrossed in minor tasks in the garden all day.)

Học thuật

adj

1. patiently attentive, careful