u tối

Cuộc sống u tối của người ấy dần được chiếu sáng bởi tri thức.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Dark, gloomy, or dim: Describes a lack of physical light, often creating a somber or depressing atmosphere.
   • Ignorant, benighted, or unenlightened: Describes a state of lacking knowledge, intellectual clarity, or spiritual awareness; being in the dark mentally or morally.

2. Adjective (figurative):

   • Obscure, murky, or unclear: Describes something that is difficult to understand, such as thoughts, ideas, or situations.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Physical):

  • Căn phòng u tối và lạnh lẽo. (The room was dark and cold.)
  • Ánh sáng yếu ớt trong hang động u tối. (The faint light in the gloomy cave.)

• Adjective (Mental/Spiritual):

  • Tâm trí u tối không thể nhận ra chân lý. (A benighted mind cannot recognize the truth.)
  • Thời kỳ u tối của lịch sử. (A dark age of history.)

Advanced Usage

• "u tối" in philosophical or literary contexts: Often used to describe an era, a state of mind, or a society lacking in progress, wisdom, or moral guidance.
  • Anh ta chìm đắm trong những suy nghĩ u tối. (He was immersed in murky thoughts.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tối tăm (adj): dark, obscure; a more common synonym with similar meanings of physical darkness and ignorance.

  • Tương lai thật tối tăm. (The future is truly dark/bleak.)

• Mù mịt (adj): thickly obscured (e.g., by fog); figuratively for a hopeless or unclear situation.

  • Sương mù mù mịt. (The fog is thick.) / Công việc còn mù mịt. (The work is still unclear/hopeless.)

Synonyms

• Dark: Lacking light.
• Gloomy: Dark and depressing.
• Ignorant: Lacking knowledge.
• Benighted: In a state of moral or intellectual darkness.
• Obscure: Unclear, uncertain.

Related Idioms

• Đầu óc u tối: A benighted/darkened mind.

  • Kẻ đầu óc u tối không nghe theo lẽ phải. (A person with a benighted mind does not listen to reason.)

• Thời kỳ u tối: A dark age/period.

  • Đất nước trải qua một thời kỳ u tối. (The country went through a dark age.)