Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Dull, muffled, thudding (sound): Describes a sound that is not sharp or clear, often heavy, soft, and low-pitched, like something being wrapped or hitting a soft surface.
   • Swaddled, bundled up: Describes something or someone wrapped or covered in many layers, often clumsily or excessively, giving a bulky appearance.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Sound):

  • Tiếng chân đầy tớ chạy đùm đụp trên cầu thang gỗ. (The sound of the servant's feet thudding dully on the wooden stairs.)
  • Trong đêm tối, chỉ nghe tiếng mưa rơi đùm đụp trên mái lá. (In the dark night, only the muffled sound of rain falling on the leaf roof could be heard.)

• Adjective (Appearance):

  • Trời lạnh, nó mặc đùm đụp mấy lớp áo. (The weather was cold, so he bundled up in several layers of clothing.)
  • Đứa bé được bà đùm đụp trong tấm chăn dày. (The child was swaddled by his grandmother in a thick blanket.)

Advanced Usage

• "đùm đụp" is often used in literary or descriptive contexts to evoke a specific sensory image (auditory or visual). It is not typically used in formal or technical writing.
• It can imply a sense of clumsiness, excess, or lack of elegance due to the bulkiness or the indistinct nature of the sound.

Variants and Related Words

• thùm thụp: A near-synonym, often used interchangeably with đùm đụp to describe similar dull, heavy sounds or a bundled-up state.
• ùm ụp: Another onomatopoeic word describing a similar low, muffled, splashing or plunging sound (e.g., of something falling into water).

Synonyms

• Ụp ụp (ụp ụp): For sound, indicating a similar dull, repetitive noise.
• Lùm xùm: For appearance, indicating a messy, tangled, or unkempt state (though not specifically about being bundled).
• Bọc kín: For appearance, meaning wrapped up tightly.

Related Idioms/Phrases

• Ăn mặc đùm đụp: To dress in many bulky layers of clothing.
  • Trời Sapa lạnh đến nỗi ai cũng phải ăn mặc đùm đụp. (It's so cold in Sapa that everyone has to bundle up in layers.)

1. như thùm thụp