vietnam

noun

Simple meaning

A long and protracted war or conflict in which the dominating foreign occupier is unable to secure a victory.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

veeetnahm

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IPA pronunciation (US)

viɛtˈnɑm

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

A prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States
A long and protracted war or conflict in which the dominating foreign occupier is unable to secure a victory.
usslang
A place that is very dangerous, especially if afflicted by violence.
usslangby extension
A situation in which one cannot win.
A country in Southeast Asia. Official name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Capital: Hanoi.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

vietnam eravietnam veterannorthern vietnamcentral vietnam

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

socialist republic of vietnamnounCompound term
A communist state in Indochina on the South China Sea.
south vietnamnounCompound term
A former country in southeastern Asia that existed from 1954 (after the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu) until 1975 when it was defeated and annexed by North Vietnam.
north vietnamnounCompound term
A former country in southeastern Asia that existed from 1954 (after the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu) until 1975 when South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

vietnamesenounRelated term
A native or inhabitant of Vietnam.
vietnamese monetary unitnounRelated term
Monetary unit in Vietnam.
north vietnameseadjectiveRelated term
Of or relating to North Vietnam or its people or culture.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States

viet namannam

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.