vô giác
Definition
- Adjective:
- Inanimate / Insensate: Lacking consciousness, sensation, or the ability to feel. Used to describe objects or entities that are not alive and therefore cannot perceive or experience feelings.
- Unfeeling / Numb: In a figurative sense, describing a state where a person seems devoid of emotion or physical sensation, as if inanimate.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Đá là vật chất vô giác. (Stone is an inanimate substance.)
- Sau cú sốc, anh ta ngồi im như một khúc gỗ vô giác. (After the shock, he sat still like an insensate log.)
- Cánh tay tôi bị tê, cảm thấy vô giác. (My arm went numb and felt lifeless.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is often used in philosophical or poetic contexts to contrast living, sentient beings with non-living matter.
- It can be used metaphorically to criticize a person's lack of empathy or emotional response.
- Trái tim vô giác không biết đến yêu thương. (An unfeeling heart knows no love.)
Variants and Related Words
- Vô tri vô giác (idiomatic phrase): Completely insensate and unconscious; often used together for emphasis to mean utterly lifeless and without perception.
- Cỗ máy đó dù tinh xảo vẫn chỉ là vật vô tri vô giác. (That machine, however sophisticated, is still just an insensate object.)
Synonyms
- Inanimate: Not alive.
- Insensate: Lacking physical sensation or consciousness.
- Numb: Deprived of the power of sensation.
Related Idioms
- Vô tri vô giác: (See "Variants and Related Words"). This is the most common idiomatic pairing for this word.