Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having no plan or strategy; being at a loss for a solution: Describes a state where one cannot think of any method, plan, or trick to deal with a difficult situation. It implies being helpless or without recourse.
   • Out of tricks; having exhausted all ideas: Suggests that all possible schemes or strategies have been tried or considered and none remain.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Đối mặt với tình huống này, tôi thực sự vô kế. (Facing this situation, I am truly at a loss for a solution.)
  • Hắn ta đã vô kế, không còn cách nào khác. (He was out of tricks, with no other way left.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in a formal or literary context to describe a critical impasse in strategy, negotiation, or problem-solving.

Variants and Related Words

• Bất lực (adj): powerless, helpless. While similar in feeling, "bất lực" emphasizes a lack of power or ability, whereas "vô kế" emphasizes a lack of a specific plan or scheme.
• Bó tay (v, colloquial): to give up, to be helpless. This is a more common and informal expression for a similar situation.

Synonyms

• At one's wit's end: having no more ideas or patience.
• Out of options: having no possible choices or plans left.
• Resourceless: lacking any means to act.

Related Idioms

• Vô phương cứu chữa: incurable, beyond remedy. This idiom is stronger, often implying a hopeless situation, whereas "vô kế" focuses on the lack of a tactical plan.
• Đàn gảy tai trâu: like playing the lute for a buffalo (i.e., a wasted effort). This idiom describes futile action, which might be the result of being "vô kế."