lười

Level ≈B1 (approx.) adjectivenoun Top 3,000 most common

Hanoi [lɨəj˨˩]Huế [lɨj˦˩]Saigon [lɨj˨˩] browser voice

Syllables · tones

lườifallinghuyền

Each syllable carries one of six tones; the mark on the vowel tells you which. How the six tones sound →

lười means lazy; slothful.

Meanings of lười in English

Adjective

lazy; slothful ≈ biếng

Noun

a sloth

Words with lười

lười biếng lười chảy thây trây lười

Example sentences with lười

Tôi lười làm bài quá. I'm too lazy to do my homework.
Cô ấy lười đi bộ vì mặt trời nóng. She is lazy to walk because the sun is hot.
Tôi quá lười để làm bài tập về nhà. I'm too lazy to do my homework.
Tom cực kỳ lười. Tom is extremely lazy.
Tom rất rất lười. Tom is extremely lazy.
Tom rất lười. Tom is really lazy.
Tôi thấy lười. I'm feeling lazy.
Tôi lười. I'm lazy.

Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, lười could be written as 倈, 唻, 懶, 𢜞. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From Proto-Mon-Khmer *laaj (“to dissolve; to melt; to become loose; idle”); cognate with Mon လဲာ (lài, “to dissolve, to come loose”), Khmer លាយ (liəy, “to mix up”) (Shorto 2006, #1512).

Frequently asked questions

What does lười mean in English?

lười (adjective) means "lazy; slothful".

How do you pronounce lười?

IPA: Hanoi [lɨəj˨˩]; Saigon [lɨj˨˩]. Tones: lười — falling tone (huyền).

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited; example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.