liêm sỉ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 廉恥.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [liəm˧˧ si˧˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [liəm˧˧ ʂɪj˧˨] ~ [liəm˧˧ sɪj˧˨]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [lim˧˧ ʂɪj˨˩˦] ~ [lim˧˧ sɪj˨˩˦]

Noun

liêm sỉ

1. (literary or humorous) being honest and upright in one's ways and having a sense of shame

   Liêm sỉ gì tầm này.

   Shame is good as trash now that we're in shit this deep.