luồn cúi

Vietnamese

Etymology

luồn (“to sneak by crounching”) +‎ cúi (“to kowtow”).

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [luən˨˩ kuj˧˦]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [luəŋ˦˩ kuj˨˩˦]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [luəŋ˨˩ kuj˦˥]

Verb

luồn cúi

  1. (colloquial and literary) to maneuver in life with no backbone, i.e. subserviently, servilely, obsequiously, sycophantically
    Một con người mà cả đời sống luồn cúi đến thế thì sao ngóc đầu lên nổi.
    How does one even start to try becoming an upstanding man when all they've known in life is to stoop and to bow subserviently?
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