Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Perverse; ill-behaved; naughty: Used primarily to describe a child who is not well-behaved, often acting in a spoiled, quarrelsome, or willfully disobedient manner. It implies a bad disposition or troublesome character traits.
   • Of bad character; vicious: Can describe someone, not necessarily a child, who has a mean-spirited, argumentative, or morally flawed nature.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Đứa trẻ đó rất xấu nết, luôn tranh giành đồ chơi với bạn. (That child is very ill-behaved, always fighting over toys with friends.)
  • Nó bị mắng vì xấu nết, hay cãi lời người lớn. (He was scolded for being naughty and often talking back to adults.)
  • Tính nó xấu nết, hay gây chuyện với mọi người. (His character is bad; he often picks fights with people.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in a corrective or disapproving context, typically by parents, teachers, or elders commenting on behavior that needs to be disciplined or reformed.
• While commonly applied to children, it can be used for adults in a more severe sense to indicate a deeply ingrained bad character.

Variants and Related Words

• Hư đốn (adj): Depraved, corrupt. A stronger term implying moral corruption, often used for serious moral failings beyond childish misbehavior.
• Ngỗ nghịch (adj): Rebellious, unruly. Specifically emphasizes disobedience and defiance against authority.
• Đành hanh (adj): Bratty, spoiled. Often used alongside "xấu nết" to describe a child who is willful and demanding.

Synonyms

• Ill-behaved: Behaving badly.
• Naughty: Behaving disobediently or mischievously (common for children).
• Perverse: Willfully determined to behave in an unreasonable or unacceptable way.
• Vicious: Having a cruel or malicious nature.

Related Idioms

• Xấu nết đánh chết không chừa: A saying meaning "if someone is of bad character, even beating them to death won't reform them." It emphasizes the difficulty of changing ingrained bad habits or a vicious nature.
  • Đồ xấu nết đánh chết không chừa! (You ill-behaved brat, even a beating won't cure you!)

adj

1. perverse