Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Wretched, miserable, pitiful: Describes a state of extreme suffering, misfortune, or a very low, contemptible condition.
   • Vile, base, despicable: Refers to behavior or character that is morally low, shameful, or dishonorable.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cuộc sống của họ thật đớn đời sau trận lũ. (Their life is truly wretched after the flood.)
  • Hắn ta là một kẻ đớn đời, không ai trong làng muốn tiếp xúc. (He is a vile/despicable fellow; no one in the village wants to interact with him.)
  • Cảnh tượng đớn đời đó khiến ai nấy đều xót thương. (That pitiful scene made everyone feel compassion.)

Advanced Usage

• The word đớn đời carries a strong negative connotation and is often used in literary or emphatic contexts to express deep contempt or profound pity. It is not typically used in casual, everyday conversation.
• It can describe both a person's miserable circumstances and their morally reprehensible character.

Variants and Related Words

• Đớn kiếp (adj): A variant with the same meaning (wretched, vile). This form is also considered somewhat archaic or literary.
  • Số phận đớn kiếp của những người nô lệ. (The wretched fate of the slaves.)
• Đớn (adj, root): Painful, aching (as in physical pain). Đớn đời intensifies this root meaning into a state of existential or moral suffering.
  • Vết thương đớn nhức. (The wound aches painfully.)

Synonyms

• Khốn khổ (adj): Destitute, miserable (focuses on poverty and hardship).
• Đáng khinh (adj): Despicable, contemptible (focuses on low moral character).
• Thảm hại (adj): Pitiful, pathetic (focuses on a sorry state leading to pity or scorn).

Related Idioms

• Đớn đời đớn kiếp: An intensified phrase emphasizing extreme wretchedness or vileness across a lifetime or existence.
  • Chúng đã gây ra cho dân làng một kiếp sống đớn đời đớn kiếp. (They inflicted upon the villagers a life of utter wretchedness.)

1. cũng nói đớn kiếp Badly-bahaved