Vietnam

//ˌvjɛʔˈnɑːm// name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A long and protracted war or conflict in which the dominating foreign occupier is unable to secure a victory.

    "another Vietnam"

  2. 2
    A place that is very dangerous, especially if afflicted by violence. US, slang

    "Welcome back to Vietnam, California."

  3. 3
    A situation in which one cannot win. US, broadly, slang

    "Everyone was miserable, including Coppola. "It was my Vietnam," he moaned a few months later."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A country in Southeast Asia. Official name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Capital: Hanoi.

    "But as in the case of Japan, the results of self-dealing corruption largely remain in the country rather than escaping to Swiss bank accounts as often happened with the style of 1950s era corruption seen in Vietnam or the Philippines."

  2. 2
    The Vietnam War. US, colloquial

    "David Rabe's anti-Viet Nam play Streamers"

Synonyms

All synonyms
namannamsocialist republic of vietnamviet namvietnam war

Example

More examples

"I didn't know that Mr. Williams fought in the Vietnam War."

Etymology

Borrowed from Vietnamese Việt Nam. Extended senses come from the Vietnam War.

Related phrases

Vietnam WarVietnam flashbackVietnam syndromesocialist republic of vietnamsoutheast asiavietnam war

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.