Definition

1. Adjective (informal):
   • Exhausted, worn out, dead beat: Used to describe a state of extreme physical or mental fatigue, often as a result of hard work, strenuous effort, or a difficult task.
   • Badly beaten up: Can describe a person who has been physically assaulted and is bruised or injured.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Làm xong việc ấy cũng đến ốm đòn. (When one has finished that job, one will be exhausted.)
  • Sau trận đấu, tay đấm sưng mặt và ốm đòn. (After the fight, the boxer had a swollen face and was badly beaten up.)
  • Cả tuần thức khuya hoàn thành dự án, tôi cảm thấy ốm đòn. (After staying up all week to finish the project, I feel dead beat.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is colloquial and carries a strong, vivid connotation. It is often used for emphasis to hyperbolically describe a state of being completely spent or battered.

Variants and Related Words

• Ốm (adj): sick, ill. While "ốm" means sick, "ốm đòn" specifically implies exhaustion or injury from an external cause (work or beating), not illness.
• Mệt lử (adj, informal): extremely tired, dog-tired. A close synonym for the "exhausted" meaning of "ốm đòn".
• Tơi tả (adj): tattered, battered. Can describe a similar state of being worn out or beaten.

Synonyms

• Exhausted: drained of energy.
• Dead beat: extremely tired.
• Worn out: exhausted from use or effort.
• Beaten up: injured from physical violence.

Related Idioms

• While "ốm đòn" itself is an idiomatic phrase, it is sometimes used in a threatening, cautionary context, especially with children.
  • Nghịch bẩn thì ốm đòn. (If you play in the dirt, you'll get a beating/get worn out.)

1. (thông tục)Badly beaten up
2. Dead beat, exhausted
   • Làm xong việc ấy cũng đến ốm đòn
     When one has finished that job, one will be exhausted