Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Tottering, leaning, lopsided, askew: Describes an object or structure that is not upright, straight, or stable, often appearing ready to fall or collapse due to damage, weakness, or an uneven base.
   • Unsteady, staggering, reeling: Describes a person's movement that is not firm or balanced, typically due to injury, intoxication, or extreme fatigue, causing them to sway and nearly fall.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (for objects):
  • Căn nhà cũ xiêu vẹo sau trận bão. (The old house was lopsided after the storm.)
  • Hàng rào xiêu vẹo cần được sửa chữa. (The leaning fence needs to be repaired.)
• Adjective (for movement):
  • Người đàn ông say rượu bước đi xiêu vẹo trên đường. (The drunk man staggered unsteadily down the street.)
  • Cô ấy đứng dậy một cách xiêu vẹo sau cú ngã. (She got up in a tottering manner after the fall.)

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use: Can describe something morally or structurally unsound, corrupt, or deviating from the correct path.
  • Những tư tưởng xiêu vẹo. (Deviant/Corrupt ideas.)
  • Một nền tảng đạo đức xiêu vẹo. (A shaky moral foundation.)

Variants and Related Words

• Xiêu (adj): Leaning, inclined, tilted. Often used interchangeably with "xiêu vẹo" but sometimes implies a simpler tilt rather than a state of near-collapse.
  • Cột điện bị xiêu. (The electricity pole is leaning.)
• Nghiêng (adj/v): To tilt, to lean. A more general and neutral term for being at an angle.
  • Tháp nghiêng Pisa. (The Leaning Tower of Pisa.)

Synonyms

• For objects: Leaning, lopsided, crooked, askew, tottering, rickety.
• For movement: Staggering, reeling, tottering, unsteady, wobbling.

Related Idioms

• Xiêu lòng: To be swayed (emotionally), to have one's resolve weakened.
  • Nghe lời nói ngọt ngào, cô ấy cũng xiêu lòng. (Hearing the sweet words, her resolve wavered.)
• Vẹo (often used separately): Crooked, twisted.
  • Cây cột bị vẹo. (The post is twisted/crooked.)

adj

1. tottering, inclined