đời kiếp
Definition
- Noun:
- Life and rebirth; lifetime and reincarnation cycle: Refers to the concept of a single lifespan within the cycle of death and rebirth, often emphasizing its length, hardship, or fate.
- Eternity; an immeasurably long time: Used colloquially to express a very long, often tedious, period, sometimes with a sense of hopelessness or exaggeration.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Đời kiếp nào tôi mới trả hết nợ? (In what lifetime will I ever repay all this debt?)
- Chờ đợi ở đây cảm giác như lâu đến cả đời kiếp. (Waiting here feels like it takes an eternity.)
- Số phận đời kiếp của con người thật khó đoán. (The fate of a person's life and rebirth is hard to predict.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is often used in exclamations or rhetorical questions to convey despair, resignation, or the seeming endlessness of a situation.
- Đời kiếp gì mà khổ thế này! (What kind of wretched life is this!)
Variants and Related Words
- Kiếp (n): lifetime, incarnation, fate. A core component of "đời kiếp," often used alone.
- Kiếp này tôi là một người lương thiện. (In this lifetime, I am an honest person.)
- Kiếp người (n): human life/lot.
- Kiếp người ngắn ngủi lắm. (A human life is very short.)
Synonyms
- Lifetime: the duration of a single life.
- Eternity: infinite or unending time.
- Fate/Destiny: the development of events beyond a person's control.
Related Idioms
- Đầu thai kiếp khác: to be reincarnated into another life.
- Hy vọng kiếp sau, hay đời kiếp khác, tôi sẽ gặp lại cô ấy. (I hope in the next life, or another lifetime, I will meet her again.)
- Khổ như kiếp trâu ngựa: to suffer like a beast of burden; a life of hard labor.
- Ông ấy làm việc khổ như kiếp trâu ngựa cả đời. (He worked as hard as an ox his whole life.)