vô phúc
Definition
- Adjective:
- Unblessed / Without fortune: Describes a person, family, or lineage that is considered to lack the benevolent protection, luck, or spiritual merit typically bestowed by ancestors or heaven. It implies a state of being unfortunate or cursed.
- Unlucky / Ill-fated: Used to describe an unfortunate event or a stroke of bad luck.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Thật là vô phúc! (What terrible misfortune!)
- Đứa trẻ vô phúc đó bị bỏ rơi. (That unlucky child was abandoned.)
- Nó là đứa con vô phúc của gia đình ấy. (He is the unblessed son of that family.)
Advanced Usage
- The term carries a strong cultural and spiritual connotation, often related to the East Asian concept of "phúc" (blessings, virtue, or happiness accumulated from good deeds of ancestors).
- It can be used as an exclamation of pity, condemnation, or to chastise someone for potentially inviting bad luck.
Variants and Related Words
- Vô phước: A variant with the same meaning, more common in certain regional dialects.
- Sống mà bất hiếu là vô phước. (To live without filial piety is to be without blessing.)
Synonyms
- Unlucky: Having or marked by bad luck.
- Ill-fated: Destined for misfortune.
- Hapless: Unfortunate.
Related Idioms
- Vô phúc đáo tụng đình: An idiom meaning "to have the misfortune of ending up in court" or to be involved in legal troubles.
- Vô phúc đáo tụng đình, có tiền cũng hao tổn. (To have the misfortune of going to court; even with money, you will suffer losses.)
- Con nhà vô phúc: A set phrase meaning "a child from an unblessed family" or an ungrateful, troublesome child.
- Thằng con nhà vô phúc! (You ungrateful wretch!)