Definition

1. Verb:
   • To become cloudy or turbid: Refers to a liquid, especially water, losing its clarity and becoming murky or disturbed.
   • To become muddled or confused (archaic, rare): Describes thoughts or reasoning becoming tangled, unclear, or lost in complexity.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Nước hồ bỗng nhiên vẩn lên. (The lake water suddenly became cloudy.)
  • Suối nước trong vắt, không hề vẩn. (The stream water is crystal clear, not cloudy at all.)
  • Tâm trí anh ấy vẩn vơ. (His mind became muddled/wandered.)

Advanced Usage

• This verb is often used to describe a physical change in the state of a liquid. Its use for describing mental states is now considered archaic and is rarely encountered in modern Vietnamese outside of literary or fixed expressions.

Variants and Related Words

• Vẩn đục (v): to become murky or muddy, stronger connotation than "vẩn".

  • Nước sông vẩn đục sau cơn mưa. (The river water became murky after the rain.)

• Vẩn vơ (adj/adv): to wander aimlessly (physically); to be distracted, to have muddled or wandering thoughts.

  • Cô ấy ngồi vẩn vơ nghĩ về chuyện cũ. (She sat there distractedly thinking about the past.)

Synonyms

• Become cloudy: to lose clarity (for liquids).
• Become turbid: to become muddy or unsettled.
• Become muddled: to become confused (for thoughts).

Notes on Usage

• The primary and common usage of "vẩn" pertains to liquids. The mental/thought-related meaning is largely obsolete.
• It is an intransitive verb, describing a state change of the subject itself (e.g., the water clouds, the mind becomes muddled).