quái

See also: quai and quài

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 怪

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kwaːj˧˦]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [kwaːj˨˩˦]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [waːj˦˥]

Noun

(classifier con) quái

freak, monster

Synonyms

(freak): quái vật

Adjective

quái

(informal) strange; odd; weird; bizarre, freakish
Cái quái gì vậy?
The hell is that?

Sao có chuyện quái thế?
Why is there such a freakish story?
mischievous, sly
nghịch quái
to play mischievously, to get into mischief

Synonyms

(strange): lạ, lạ lùng, kỳ cục

Derived terms

Derived terms

bát quái
ma quái
quái ác
quái cổ
quái dị
quái đản
quái gở
quái lạ
quái quỷ
quái thai
quái thú
quái tượng
quái vật
quỷ quái
yêu quái

Adverb

quái

(not) at all
Cứ bô bô cái mỏ mà chẳng hiểu quái gì.
[Someone] keeps running their trap but doesn't understand anything at all.

Làm quái gì việc vặt ấy.
Such a trifling thing does not matter at all.

Quái gì phải lo lắng?
What in the world do you have to worry about?

Interjection

quái

used to express surprise
Quái! Nhớ để ở đây mà!
That's weird! I could've sworn I put it here!

Quái, hôm qua còn khỏe thế mà hôm nay đã chết!
How odd, he was so healthy yesterday and to day he is dead!

References

"quái" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)

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