vô lí
Vietnamese
Alternative forms
Etymology
Sino-Vietnamese word from 無理 (“unreasonable”).
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [vo˧˧ li˧˦]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [vow˧˧ lɪj˨˩˦]
- (Saigon) IPA(key): [vow˧˧ lɪj˦˥] ~ [jow˧˧ lɪj˦˥]
Adjective
- making no sense; nonsensical; impossible; implausible
- Vô lí! Thằng ngu như nó làm sao mà giải bài này được!
- That's ridiculous! How come an idiot like him could solve this one?
- unreasonable
- Người đâu mà vô lí!
- You're so unreasonable!
Usage notes
- vô lí chiefly means "making no sense". For other nuances that can be conveyed with English absurd, preposterous, ridiculous, ludicrous, laughable, etc., nhảm nhí, vớ vẩn or tào lao should be used.
- Not to be confused with nghịch lí (“something counter-intuitive”).