Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Thứ nhất sợ kẻ anh hùng, thứ nhì sợ kẻ bần cùng thí thân

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Fear the brave and those with nothing to lose

Literally: First fear the hero, second fear the poor who sacrifice their body

Examples

Tôi không dám trêu ghẹo anh ta, vì thật sự thứ nhất sợ kẻ anh hùng, thứ nhì sợ kẻ bần cùng thí thânI didn't dare tease him, because truly, one fears the brave and those with nothing to lose

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-08; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Thứ nhất sợ kẻ anh hùng, thứ nhì sợ kẻ bần cùng thí thân” mean?

Fear the brave and those with nothing to lose Literally: First fear the hero, second fear the poor who sacrifice their body

Is “Thứ nhất sợ kẻ anh hùng, thứ nhì sợ kẻ bần cùng thí thân” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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