văng vắng
Definition
- Adjective:
- Desolate / Very quiet and empty: Describes a place that is extremely quiet, still, and lacking people or activity, often with a sense of loneliness or abandonment. It intensifies the meaning of "vắng" (quiet/empty).
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Con đường làng chiều nay thật văng vắng. (The village road is truly desolate this evening.)
- Căn nhà cũ trông thật văng vắng sau khi họ chuyển đi. (The old house looks very empty and quiet after they moved away.)
Advanced Usage
- The word is primarily used in literary or descriptive contexts to evoke a strong mood of solitude, silence, or abandonment. It is not typically used in casual, everyday conversation.
Variants and Related Words
- Vắng (adj): quiet, empty, absent.
- Phòng học rất vắng. (The classroom is very quiet.)
- Vắng vẻ (adj): quiet, deserted, unfrequented.
- Một con phố vắng vẻ. (A deserted street.)
- Hiu quạnh (adj): desolate, lonely, bleak.
- Một nơi hiu quạnh. (A desolate place.)
Synonyms
- Desolate: Deserted of people and in a state of bleak emptiness.
- Deserted: Abandoned and empty.
- Lonely: Unfrequented and remote, inducing a feeling of solitude.
Related Idioms
- Vắng như chùa Bà Đanh: As deserted as Bà Đanh Pagoda (a proverbial idiom for an extremely quiet and deserted place).
- Quán cà phê mới mở vắng như chùa Bà Đanh. (The newly opened café is as deserted as Bà Đanh Pagoda.)