xấu thói
Definition
- Adjective:
- Having a bad character or disposition: Describes a person, especially a child, who is habitually ill-tempered, selfish, or behaves in a disagreeable, spoiled manner.
- Ill-mannered; badly behaved: Refers to someone who exhibits persistent negative behavioral traits or bad habits.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- Đứa trẻ đó rất xấu thói. (That child is very ill-mannered / has a very bad disposition.)
- Nó xấu thói, lúc nào cũng giành đồ chơi của em. (He/She is selfish, always snatching toys from their sibling.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is often used in a critical or reproachful context, typically to describe ingrained negative personality traits rather than temporary moods. It implies a habitual pattern of behavior.
Variants and Related Words
Hư (adj): spoiled, naughty (often used for children, but can imply moral corruption in adults).
- Đứa bé hư quá. (The child is too spoiled.)
Ỷ lại (v): to be overly dependent, to rely on others in a lazy or entitled way (a specific possible manifestation of xấu thói).
Synonyms
- Ill-natured: Having a bad or unpleasant character.
- Selfish: Concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.
- Spoiled: (Of a child) harmed in character by being treated too leniently or indulgently.
- Bad-tempered: Easily annoyed or made angry.
Related Idioms
- While itself is not typically part of a longer idiom, it describes the core trait behind behaviors captured in idioms like:
- Ăn vụng không biết chùi mép: Literally "to eat stealthily and not wipe one's mouth"; meaning to do something sneaky or wrong and be careless about hiding it, showing a lack of cleverness or bad character.