menu_book📖 Đọc bài này để nhận 10 điểm hiệu suất
Being in a worse position to succeed
Ở thế bất lợi, khó thành công hơn người khác
be at a disadvantage / put/place X at a disadvantage / disadvantage X
Dùng khi ai đó hoặc điều gì đó ở thế bất lợi, hoặc bị đặt vào thế bất lợi, nên khó thành công hơn hoặc ít có cơ hội hơn người khác.
Early school assessments can put relatively younger children at a disadvantage.
Use when someone or something is in, or is put into, a worse position than others, so success is harder or less likely.
Core disadvantage family. `be at a disadvantage`, `put/place X at a disadvantage`, and verb `disadvantage X` share the same headword/root, so they count as one Lexio entry, not three. Cambridge, Longman, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Collins all support the success-less-likely / worse-position sense. Nuance recheck: dictionary examples mainly use this family for neutral description in academic, professional, and news-like contexts; the situation is unfavorable, but the phrase itself does not normally express emotional negativity. Ngram 2022: `at a disadvantage` 0.0000010585; `put at a disadvantage` 0.0000000105. Corpus evidence: COCA `at a disadvantage` 970; BNC `at a disadvantage` 178.
be worse off
Dùng khi ai đó ở tình trạng tệ hơn trước, hoặc tệ hơn người hay nhóm khác, thường về tiền bạc, điều kiện sống, hoặc hoàn cảnh thực tế.
Students without early support may be worse off by the end of the year.
Use when someone is in a worse condition than before or worse than another person or group, often financially or practically.
Core alternative route with a condition/comparison flavor. Cambridge defines `worse off` as poorer or in a more difficult situation; Longman, Merriam-Webster, and Collins also support the worse-condition sense. Nuance recheck: examples often frame a less satisfactory state, loss, or warning about becoming worse off, so ON is retained as a mild negative evaluative flavor. Ngram 2022: 0.0000007386. Corpus evidence: COCA `worse off` 1509; BNC `worse off` 251.
have the odds stacked against you / the odds are against X
Dùng khi hoàn cảnh khiến khả năng thành công thấp vì có nhiều yếu tố đang chống lại ai đó.
If the test ignores developmental age, the odds are stacked against the youngest pupils.
Use when circumstances make success unlikely because many factors are working against someone.
Core probability-obstacle route. Cambridge, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Longman, and Collins all document the `odds` frame for low chances or difficulty; Oxford and Longman explicitly include `the cards/odds are stacked against you`. Nuance recheck: this idiom normally frames success as unlikely because conditions are against someone, so ON is retained for its warning/adversity flavor. Ngram 2022 for `odds stacked against`: 0.0000000233. Corpus evidence: COCA `odds are stacked against` 64. BNC/GloWbE/NOW later raised an anti-automation warning, so backup corpus confirmation is limited.
face an uphill battle / uphill struggle
Dùng khi mục tiêu vẫn có thể đạt được nhưng rất khó và cần nhiều nỗ lực trong thời gian dài.
A child labelled weak too early may face an uphill battle to regain confidence.
Use when a goal is possible but very difficult and requires sustained effort.
Core difficult-goal route. Oxford defines `uphill battle/struggle/task` as difficult to win and requiring effort over time; Merriam-Webster and Collins support `uphill battle` as a very difficult struggle, and Longman gives `an uphill struggle/battle/task`. Nuance recheck: native examples often use it as a neutral difficulty frame, and it can even appear in resilient or motivational contexts, so the pragmatic nuance is N rather than automatically ON. Ngram 2022: 0.0000001835. Corpus evidence: COCA `uphill battle` 941.
be held back by X / hold X back
Dùng khi một yếu tố cản ai đó hoặc điều gì đó tiến bộ, phát triển, hoặc đạt mức họ có thể đạt được.
Some pupils are held back by assessment rules that ignore relative age.
Use when a factor prevents someone or something from progressing or developing as much as they could.
Core obstacle/progress route. Oxford defines `hold back` as preventing progress or development; Longman and Merriam-Webster give the same progress-limiting sense, and Collins includes `held back by` examples. Nuance recheck: the phrase denotes blocked progress, but examples such as policy, education, and negotiation contexts are normally descriptive rather than emotionally negative, so nuance is N. Ngram 2022: 0.0000002916. Corpus evidence: COCA `held back by` 320.
be hampered by X / hamper X
Cách nói thiên về văn viết hoặc chuyên nghiệp hơn, nghĩa là một yếu tố làm cho tiến bộ, thành công, hoặc hành động trở nên khó khăn hơn.
Fair assessment can be hampered by rigid school-entry rules.
A more written or professional way to say that a factor makes progress, success, or action more difficult.
Extended-core written route. Cambridge says `hamper` means to make an intended action more difficult; Oxford says to prevent someone from easily doing or achieving something; Merriam-Webster and Collins connect it with hindering, impeding, and difficult progress. Nuance recheck: examples are mostly factual news/professional reporting of an obstacle, not emotional complaint, so nuance is N. Ngram 2022: 0.0000008098. Corpus evidence: COCA `hampered by` 1091. SF/W reflects its polished written feel and dictionary examples; keep mode/register recheckable if broader corpus access is reset.