Definition

1. Verb:
   • To be ungrateful / to deny a favor: The primary meaning of "vỗ ơn" is to act ungratefully towards someone who has done you a kindness, or to deny or forget a benefit received.
   • To show ingratitude: It describes the act of repaying good with indifference or negativity, failing to acknowledge a past kindness.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ta đã vỗ ơn người đã cứu mạng mình. (He was ungrateful to the person who saved his life.)
  • Đừng bao giờ vỗ ơn với những người đã giúp đỡ mình. (Never show ingratitude to those who have helped you.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "vỗ ơn" carries a strong moral judgment and is often used in contexts criticizing someone's character for lacking gratitude. It implies a conscious or blameworthy forgetting of a debt of gratitude.

Variants and Related Words

• Vong ơn (v): to forget a kindness or favor; synonymous with being ungrateful.
  • Kẻ vong ơn thường bị xã hội coi thường. (Those who forget kindness are often despised by society.)

Synonyms

• Be ungrateful: To not show thanks for kindness.
• Deny a favor: To refuse to acknowledge a good deed done for one.
• Show ingratitude: To demonstrate a lack of gratitude.

Related Idioms

• Ăn cháo đá bát: (Literally: to eat the porridge and kick the bowl) To bite the hand that feeds you; a vivid idiom for extreme ingratitude, closely related to the concept of "vỗ ơn".
  • Hắn quả thật là kẻ ăn cháo đá bát. (He is truly someone who bites the hand that feeds him.)