Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Bad-tempered / ill-natured: Having a consistently unpleasant, irritable, or mean disposition. It describes a person's inherent character trait of being easily angered or inclined to be unkind.
   • Nasty / mean-spirited: Behaving in a deliberately unpleasant, spiteful, or malicious way towards others.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Anh ta thật xấu tính, lúc nào cũng cáu kỉnh. (He is truly bad-tempered, always irritable.)
  • Đừng có xấu tính như vậy, hãy giúp đỡ bạn bè. (Don't be so mean-spirited, help your friends.)
  • Bà ấy không xấu người nhưng hơi xấu tính. (She is not ugly but a bit ill-natured.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in a comparative or descriptive sense to critique someone's personality rather than a temporary mood.
• It can be used directly to address someone's character: "" (People avoid her because she is ill-natured.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tính xấu (n): A bad habit or a negative character trait.
  • Nói dối là một tính xấu. (Lying is a bad habit.)
• Xấu bụng (adj): Literally "bad-bellied," meaning malicious, spiteful.
  • Hắn là một kẻ xấu bụng. (He is a malicious person.)

Synonyms

• Ill-tempered: Having a bad temper.
• Cantankerous: Bad-tempered and argumentative.
• Malicious: Characterized by malice; intending to do harm.
• Spiteful: Showing or caused by malice.

Related Idioms

• Xấu tính hơn xấu người: "Worse in character than in appearance." An idiom emphasizing that a bad personality is worse than a plain appearance.
  • Anh ấy thuộc loại xấu tính hơn xấu người. (He is the type who is worse in character than in looks.)