tiêu cực
[tiəw˧˧ kɨk̚˧˨ʔ]
The English word "negative" is translated into Vietnamese as tiêu cực.
tiêu cực is used to describe things that are not positive or neutral, such as bad, undesirable or unfavourable concepts. It is commonly used for abstract ideas like attitudes, thoughts or social phenomena, rather than physical properties like electrical charge.
Meaning: not positive or neutral, bad, undesirable, unfavourable (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
Together, they denote a negative pole or state.
Which one should you use?
The antonym for tiêu cực is tích cực, which means "positive".
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Northern Vietnam, people tend to use the word Chẳng before a verb or adjective to express negativity.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not use tiêu cực to describe a negative number or a negative electrical charge. In those mathematical or electrical contexts, you should use the word âm instead.
Did you know?
- The word âm is used for 'negative' in mathematics, but it also carries a deep cultural connotation of 'Yin' from the Yin-Yang philosophy.
- The word tiêu cực literally translates to 'consuming the extremity' or 'ceasing at the pole'.
- If you are talking about a negative temperature, like 'minus ten degrees', using tiêu cực would sound like the temperature has a bad attitude rather than being a low number.
Examples in context
- Cô ấy có thái độ tiêu cực với cuộc sống.She has a negative attitude toward life.This sentence shows how to describe a person's attitude toward life using tiêu cực.Tatoeba #5148704 by truongap, translation #315253 by CM
- suy nghĩ tiêu cựcTo have a negative mindsetThis phrase is used to describe a negative mindset using tiêu cực.
- biểu hiện tiêu cựcNegative signs/indicationsThis phrase shows how to describe negative signs or indications using tiêu cực.
- Chẳng đẹp tí nào.Not beautiful at all.
Example conversation
Hùng and Chi are discussing the results of a recent project review.
- HùngKết quả phản hồi của khách hàng rất tiêu cực.The customer's feedback was very negative.
- ChiAnh thấy chuyện này có nghiêm trọng không?Do you think this is serious?
- HùngCó, chúng ta cần sửa đổi ngay lập tức.Yes, we need to make changes immediately.
- ChiEm sẽ chuẩn bị báo cáo để khắc phục nó.I will prepare a report to fix it.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “negative” translations and entries tiêu cực, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cực, tiêu, tiêu cực, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR, Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
