Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Denuded, bare: Describes trees, plants, or landscapes that have lost their leaves, foliage, or covering, appearing stripped and bleak.
   • Dilapidated, tattered: Refers to objects, especially clothing or buildings, that are worn out, ragged, and in a state of disrepair.
   • Destitute, impoverished: Describes a person, family, or their condition as being extremely poor, lacking in material possessions, and reduced to a state of want.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau cơn bão, khu vườn trở nên xơ xác. (After the storm, the garden became denuded and bare.)
  • Anh ta mặc một chiếc áo xơ xác. (He was wearing a tattered shirt.)
  • Họ sống trong một căn nhà xơ xác. (They live in a dilapidated house.)
  • Chiến tranh khiến nhiều gia đình xơ xác. (The war left many families destitute.)

Advanced Usage

• The adjective xơ xác is often used to intensify a state of ruin or poverty. It conveys a stronger, more visual, and more pitiful image than synonyms like "nghèo" (poor) or "cũ" (old).
• It can be used metaphorically to describe abstract concepts that are "stripped bare" or "in ruins," such as hopes or plans.

Variants and Related Words

• Nghèo xơ xác (adj phrase): Extremely poor, destitute.

  • Người đàn ông nghèo xơ xác ấy vẫn giữ được phẩm giá. (That destitute man still maintained his dignity.)

• Tiêu điều xơ xác (adj phrase): Desolate and bleak (often for landscapes).

  • Vùng quê tiêu điều xơ xác sau mùa đông khắc nghiệt. (The countryside was desolate and bleak after the harsh winter.)

Synonyms

• Denuded: stripped of covering.
• Tattered: torn and ragged.
• Dilapidated: in a state of disrepair.
• Destitute: extremely poor, lacking necessities.
• Bleak: bare, exposed, and desolate.

Related Idioms

• Xơ xác như ma đói: As ragged/wretched as a starving ghost. This idiom emphasizes extreme destitution and a pitiful physical appearance.
  • Sau trận lũ, dân làng trông xơ xác như ma đói. (After the flood, the villagers looked as wretched as starving ghosts.)

adj

1. denuded, bare