đeo đẳng
Definition
- Verb:
- To haunt / to plague: To persistently trouble, burden, or cause distress to someone, often referring to a negative memory, feeling, or situation that one cannot escape.
- To cling to / to be saddled with: To be persistently attached to or burdened by something undesirable, such as a responsibility, debt, or reputation.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Cảm giác tội lỗi đeo đẳng anh ấy suốt nhiều năm. (A feeling of guilt haunted him for many years.)
- Cô ấy bị đeo đẳng bởi những khoản nợ cũ. (She is plagued by old debts.)
- Danh tiếng xấu đó vẫn đeo đẳng công ty. (That bad reputation still clings to the company.)
Advanced Usage
- The verb often implies a passive, unwilling, and prolonged suffering. The subject is typically the negative element (e.g., memory, debt) that does the haunting, while the person is the object being haunted.
Variants and Related Words
- Đeo bám (v): To cling to, to follow persistently (can be used more literally for a person following another, or figuratively).
- Một vấn đề kỹ thuật cứ đeo bám dự án. (A technical problem kept clinging to the project.)
Synonyms
- Haunt: To persistently disturb or distress.
- Plague: To cause continual trouble or distress.
- Bedevil: To torment or harass persistently.
- Burden: To load with something heavy or troublesome.
Related Idioms
- Đeo đẳng như hình với bóng: To cling to someone like a shadow (to be inseparable in a burdensome way).
- Nỗi sợ thất bại đeo đẳng anh ta như hình với bóng. (The fear of failure clung to him like a shadow.)