TỪ VỰNG CÓ GẠCH NỐI - CAT

wishy-washy

(adj) - lacking strength or determination; feeble (mềm yếu, thiếu quyết đoán, ướt như bún)

→ His wishy-washy leadership failed to inspire the team.

namby-pamby

(adj) - weak, timid, or sentimental (yếu đuối, nhát gan, ủy mị)

→ That namby-pamby apology didn't convince anyone.

hoity-toity

(adj) - pretentiously self-important; haughty (làm ra vẻ quan trọng, kiêu kỳ, trịch thượng)

→ She gave us a hoity-toity look and walked away.

airy-fairy

(adj) - vague, impractical, or unrealistic (mơ hồ, không thực tế, viển vông)

→ His airy-fairy business plan had no financial details.

artsy-fartsy

(adj) - trying too hard to be artistic (làm ra vẻ nghệ sĩ, màu mè nghệ thuật)
→ The gallery was full of artsy-fartsy photos of nothing.

arty-farty

(adj) - attempting to seem artistic in an exaggerated or pretentious way (màu mè, điệu đà nghệ thuật một cách kệch cỡm)

→ I can't stand his arty-farty opinions about modern dance.

loosey-goosey

(adj) - relaxed and not precise; casual (lỏng lẻo, thoải mái quá mức, không chính xác)

→ The rules are too loosey-goosey for this competition.

lovey-dovey

(adj) - overly sentimental in showing affection (tình cảm sến súa, âu yếm phô trương)

→ They were being all lovey-dovey at the party.

happy-clappy

(adj) - (of worship) energetic, enthusiastic, often charismatic Christian (kiểu thờ phúng sôi nổi, vỗ tay hát hò)

→ She goes to a happy-clappy church every Sunday.

goody-goody

(adj) - behaving well to impress others (tỏ ra ngoan ngoãn, tử tế để lấy lòng)

→ He's such a goody-goody student that others dislike him.

goody-two-shoes

(n) - a person who is annoyingly virtuous (người tỏ ra đạo đức giả tạo, người thích ra vẻ ngoan đạo)

→ My sister is a real goody-two-shoes who never breaks rules.

fuddy-duddy

(n) - an old-fashioned, conservative person (người bảo thủ, lỗi thời, khó tính)

→ Don't be such a fuddy-duddy—come to the concert!

hurly-burly

(n) - busy, noisy activity; commotion (huyên náo, ồn ào, náo động)

→ He got lost in the hurly-burly of the train station.

helter-skelter

(adv) - in a disorderly, hasty manner (hỗn loạn, mất trật tự, hấp tấp)

→ The kids ran helter-skelter down the hill.

higgledy-piggledy

(adv) - in a disordered, jumbled way (lung tung, lộn xộn, bừa bãi)

→ Books were piled higgledy-piggledy on the floor.

harum-scarum

(adj) - reckless, impulsive (liều lĩnh, hấp tấp, bồng bột)

→His harum-scarum driving scared everyone.

topsy-turvy

(adj) - upside down; in complete disorder (đảo lộn, lộn tùng phèo)

→ The room was topsy-turvy after the children's party.

pell-mell

(adv) - in a confused, rushed manner (hỗn độn, vội vã, cuống quýt)

→ The crowd rushed pell-mell toward the exit.

willy-nilly

(adv) - whether desired or not; randomly (bất kể muốn hay không, tùy tiện, bừa)

→ You cannot just change the rules willy-nilly.

herky-jerky

(adj) - moving with sudden stops and starts (giật cục, không đều, ngắt quãng)

→ The video was herky-jerky due to a bad connection.

nitty-gritty

(n) - the most important, basic details (điều cốt lõi, chi tiết thực tế quan trọng nhất)

→ Let's get down to the nitty-gritty of the contract.

razzle-dazzle

(n) - a flashy, exciting display (sự phô trương hàonhoáng, hấp dẫn bề ngoài)

→ The razzle-dazzle of the casino hid its dark side.

hocus-pocus

(n) - trickery or meaningless words used to deceive (trò bịp bợm, lời nói dối trá, mánh khóe) -> The magician's hocus-pocus amazed the children.

hanky-panky

(n) - suspicious or dishonest behaviour; sexual immorality (hành vi mờ ám, lừa lọc; mờ ám tình dục)

→ The manager was fired for financial hanky-panky.

jiggery-pokery

(n) - deceitful, dishonest manipulation (sự lừa bịp, gian dối, mờ ám)

→ There's been some jiggery-pokery with the election results.

hugger-mugger

(adj) - secretive and confused (bí mật và lộn xộn, giấu giếm)

→ The whole affair was conducted in a hugger-mugger way.

argy-bargy

(n) - a lively argument or dispute (cuộc cãi vã, tranh luận ồn ào)

→ There was a bit of argy-bargy at the pub last night.

argle-bargle

(n) - noisy, confused argument (cãi lộn huyên náo, lộn xộn)

→ I'm tired of all this argle-bargle over nothing.

flim-flam

(n) - nonsense or deceptive talk (chuyện nhảm nhí, lừa lọc, lố bịch)

→ Don't believe his flim-flam about hidden riches.

mumbo-jumbo

(n) - confusing ritual or language; nonsense (nghi lễ khó hiểu, ngôn ngữ rối rắm, vô nghĩa)

→ His explanation was just psychological mumbo-jumbo.

clap-trap

(n) - absurd or nonsensical talk (chuyện vô lý, ba hoa khoác lác, nói suông)

→ The speech was full of patriotic clap-trap.

sing-song

(adj) - having a monotonous, rhythmic rise and fall (đều đều, ê a, lên xuống đơn điệu)

→ She spoke in a sing-song voice to the baby.

hole-and-corner

(adj) - secretive, often in a shameful way (bí mật mờ ám, lén lút)

→ Their hole-and-corner deal was exposed by the media.

hole-in-the-corner

(adj) - secretive and often dishonest; carried out in a hidden way (lén lút, mờ ám, giấu giếm)

→ I don't like this hole-in-the-corner arrangement.

penny-ante

(adj) - trivial, small-scale, unimportant (vụn vặt, tầm thường, ít ỏi)

→ This is just penny-ante crime; we need the big fish.

cock-and-bull

(adj) - implausible, exaggerated (không thể tin được, bịa đặt, cường điệu)

→ He told us a cock-and-bull story about missing luggage.

woolly-headed

(adj) - confused, unclear in thinking (đầu óc lú lẫn, mơ hồ, không rõ ràng)

→ That's a woolly-headed idea with no plan.

strait-laced

(adj) - very strict in morals and behavior (khắt khe, nghiêm nghị, bảo thủ, câu nệ)

→ Her strait-laced parents didn't approve of rock music.

half-cocked

(adj) - poorly prepared; acting too soon (chưa chín chắn, hấp tấp, thiếu chuẩn bị)

→ He made a half-cocked decision that cost us dearly.

devil-may-care

(adj) - casual, reckless, cheerful despite danger (bất cần, liều lĩnh, không lo lắng)

→ His devil-may-care attitude worries his family.

happy-go-lucky

(adj) - carefree, not worrying (vô tư lự, thảnh thơi, không lo nghĩ)

→ She's a happy-go-lucky person who enjoys every day.

fly-by-night

(adj) - unreliable, especially in business (không đáng tin, nhất là kinh doanh chụp giật)

→ That's a fly-by-night company; don't pay upfront.

catch-as-catch-can

(adj) - using whatever methods are available (cố gắng bằng mọi cách có thể, bất chấp)

→ We had a catch-as-catch-can meal with leftovers.

cloak-and-dagger

(adj) - involving mystery and espionage (đầy bí mật, kịch tính điệp viên)

→ He loves cloak-and-dagger novels.

rough-and-ready

(adj) - crude but effective (thô sơ nhưng hiệu quả, tạm bợ)

→ We built a rough-and-ready shelter from branches.

rough-and-tumble

(adj) - aggressive and disorderly (hỗn loạn, lộn xộn, thô bạo)

→ He enjoys rough-and-tumble football.

cut-and-dried

(adj) - clear, pre-decided, routine (rõ ràng, sẵn có, đã được quyết định, tẻ nhạt)
→ The procedure is cut-and-dried; just follow it.

hard-and-fast

(adj) - fixed, cannot be changed (cố định, cứng nhắc, không thể thay đổi)

→ There's no hard-and-fast rule about this.

free-and-easy

(adj) - relaxed, informal (thoải mái, tự do, không câu nệ)

→ The party was free-and-easy, without formal dress.

down-at-heel

(adj) - shabby, poor (xiêu vẹo, tiều tụy, nghèo nàn)

→ He lived in a down-at-heel apartment.