liêm sỉ

Vietnamese

Etymology

    Sino-Vietnamese word from 廉恥.

    Pronunciation

    • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [liəm˧˧ si˧˩]
    • (Huế) IPA(key): [liəm˧˧ ʂɪj˧˨] ~ [liəm˧˧ sɪj˧˨]
    • (Saigon) 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.