ขยะ
garbage
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 garbage、trash、rubbish、waste
A common everyday word for unwanted material that is thrown away, such as household garbage or litter.
garbage、trash、rubbish、waste
Unwanted material that is discarded, including household garbage, waste, and litter.
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ถังขยะอยู่ที่ไหน thǎŋ khayà yùu thîi nǎy Where is the trash can? ถังขยะอยู่ที่ไหน details
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ช่วยแยกขยะด้วย chûay yɛ̂ɛk khayà dûay Please sort the garbage. ช่วยแยกขยะด้วย details
Learning notes
Explanation
ขยะ is the standard everyday noun for unwanted things that are thrown away, including household garbage, discarded packaging, and litter. Common combinations include ทิ้งขยะ “throw away the trash,” เก็บขยะ “pick up or collect garbage,” and แยกขยะ “sort waste.” It is normally treated as a collective or mass noun rather than counted item by item. It can also be used figuratively for something considered worthless or extremely poor in quality. This is a disparaging extension of the basic meaning rather than a separate meaning learners need to prioritize.
Usage
It is widely used at home, school, work, restaurants, and in public places when discussing throwing away, collecting, or sorting garbage. It also appears in environmental and municipal contexts, such as ปัญหาขยะ “the garbage problem” and การจัดการขยะ “waste management.”
Caution
Calling a person ขยะ is a severe insult, comparable to calling someone “trash.” Also, when talking about taking out the garbage, Thai commonly uses a phrase such as เอาขยะไปทิ้ง, literally “take the garbage to throw it away.”