vền vên
Definition
- 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.)