vô lí

See also: voli and volí

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

vô lý

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”).