Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely high or lofty: Describes something, typically a mountain or a structure, that is perceived as towering or reaching a great, often imposing, height.
   • Excessively expensive or exorbitant: Used figuratively to describe a price, cost, or value that is unreasonably and shockingly high.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Ngọn núi vền vên trước mặt. (The mountain loomed extremely high ahead.)
  • Giá căn hộ ở đây vền vên, không thể mua nổi. (The apartment prices here are exorbitantly high, impossible to buy.)

Advanced Usage

• This word is considered literary and somewhat archaic. It is used for dramatic emphasis rather than in everyday conversation to describe physical height or metaphorical cost.

Variants and Related Words

• Vời vợi (adj): Vast, distant, and lofty; often used for things perceived as being far away or unreachable, such as the sky or a dream.
  • Ước mơ còn vời vợi lắm. (The dream is still very distant and lofty.)

Synonyms

• Lofty: Of imposing height.
• Towering: Extremely high.
• Exorbitant: (Of a price or amount) unreasonably high.
• Sky-high: Very high.

Related Idioms

• Vền vên như núi Thái Sơn: As lofty as Mount Tai; used to emphasize something's great importance, stability, or, in a negative sense, its immovable, burdensome weight (like debt).
  • Món nợ vền vên như núi Thái Sơn. (The debt is as towering and burdensome as Mount Tai.)