au fait

more au fait (comparative)
most au fait (superlative)

Are you au fait with the rules of the game?

The Chevalier was, as usual, au fait at all the anecdotes of the court, which had been exceedingly gay, owing to the visit of Madame de Savoie and her daughter, the Princess Marguerite.

骑士像往常一样，对宫廷的所有轶事了如指掌，由于萨瓦夫人和她的女儿玛格丽特公主的来访，宫廷的气氛非常热烈。

1834，Letitia Elizabeth Landon，Francesca Carrara，卷 2，頁 175:

Now there is father; he is au fait in all these matters; has a theory for every case of whooping-cough, – and a mission school.

现在有了父亲；他对所有这些事情都很熟悉；有一套适用于所有百日咳病例的理论，还有一所传教学校。

1871，Elizabeth Stuart Phelps，“The Silent Partner”, in Popular American Literature of the 19th Century, →ISBN，頁 857:

In that case, it would help to have a benevolent deity who is au fait with those complexities — but that there is such a deity is a feature of Stoic theology.

1999，R.J. Hankinson，The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy, →ISBN，頁 535:

This may sound needless to the professional who is au fait with the history and direction of the investigation.

对于熟悉调查历史和方向的专业人士来说，这可能听起来没有必要。

2003，D R J Laming，Understanding Human Motivation: What Makes People Tick?, →ISBN，頁 4:


ageist

more ageist (comparative)
most ageist (superlative)

Upon hearing that his employer would soon require yearly physical examinations and vision screening, my father exclaimed that the policy was ageist.

听说雇主很快就会要求每年进行身体检查和视力检查，我父亲惊呼说这项政策是年龄歧视。

Even though she had succeeded in the phone interview, when the ageist employer learned that the candidate was only 18 years old, she became hesitant.

尽管电话面试成功了，但得知应聘者只有18岁时，这位年龄歧视的雇主还是犹豫了。


marauding

more marauding (comparative)
most marauding (superlative)

a marauding band

A marauding stoat entered the rabbit warren and killed fifteen bunnies.

一只凶残的短尾鼬闯进兔子窝，杀了15只兔子。

The marauding lion jumped the fence and killed the goat.

凶残的狮子跳过围栏，把那只山羊杀死了。


space-saving

more space-saving (comparative)
most space-saving (superlative)


cogitant

源自拉丁語 cōgitans，cōgitō (“想，思考”)的現在主動不定式。

more cogitant (comparative)
most cogitant (superlative)


scient

源自拉丁語 sciēns (“知道的”)，源自sciō (“知道”)。

more scient (comparative)
most scient (superlative)

知道的，了解的，有知識的


incertain

more incertain (comparative)
most incertain (superlative)

And again, that as these acquisitions are in themselves generally worthless, so are the means to attain them not only base and infamous, but at best incertain, and always full of danger.

而且，由于这些收益本身通常是没有价值的，所以达到这些收益的手段不仅卑鄙、不光彩，充其量只能说是不确定的，而且总是充满着危险。

1749，Henry Fielding，The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:


dirigiste

借自法語 dirigiste，源自diriger (“帶領，引導；領導，指導”)，源自拉丁語 dirigere，dīrigō (“帶領，引導，指導”)的現在主動不定式。

more dirigiste (comparative)
most dirigiste (superlative)

（經濟等方面）受中央統制管理的

The repeated crises in dirigiste systems are in essence crises of information since the abolition of the market leaves the central planner bereft of that economic knowledge which is required for harmony.

統制經濟體制中反覆出現的危機實質上是信息的危機，因為市場的廢除使中央計劃者失去了和諧所需的經濟知識。

1982，Norman Barry，“The Tradition of Spontaneous Order [自發性秩序的傳統]”, in Literature of Liberty，卷 5, 期 2，頁 10:

Certainly, popular demands and the force of circumstances have already pushed the Biden administration towards a dirigiste programme of government-led recovery that has no real precedent since the 1960s.

2022，Jeremy Gilbert，Alex Williams，“Strange Times”, in Hegemony Now，London: Verso, →ISBN, part III:


ailing

more ailing (comparative)
most ailing (superlative)

体弱多病的，身体差的，不健康的

She cared for her ailing brother day in, day out.

她夜以继日地照顾她那体弱多病的弟弟。

Based on the successful Class 59 but with a much more modern engine, what was to become the Class 66 was designed to replace much of the company's elderly and ailing locomotive fleet.

2021年February24日，“Fleet News: Class 66 history”, in RAIL，期 925，頁 27:


semble

源自中古英語 semble，源自古法語 semble。

name and deede that bare the semble stile


semblant

more semblant (comparative)
most semblant (superlative)


noisier

noisy 的比較級形式。


cartier

carty 的比較級形式。


ravissant

後腿直立，像是要撲向獵物一樣的


dark-skinned

more dark-skinned (comparative)
most dark-skinned (superlative)

"They are only fit for muck, they are; and they smell bad enough for it already." Job, it will be perceived, was no admirer of the manners and customs of our dark-skinned brothers.

“他们只适合做泥巴；而且他们的气味已经够臭了。”可以看出，约伯并不喜欢我们黑皮肤兄弟的礼仪和习俗。

1887，H. Rider Haggard，She: A History of Adventure:


savable

源自中古英語 savable，源自中古法語 sauvable，源自古法語 salvable、sauvable，源自中世紀拉丁語 salvābilis；等同於save + -able。


sculptural

more sculptural (comparative)
most sculptural (superlative)

His sculptural work never gained the acclaim his paintings did.

他的雕塑作品從未獲得過其畫作那樣的讚譽。


hung like a donkey

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-hung like a donkey.ogg


OS

outsize (“（衣服）大碼的”)之縮寫。

oversize (“特大號的”)之縮寫。

Old Style (“舊式的”)之縮寫：指歷史上使用儒略曆而非格里曆表示的日期


thirdborn

小說《傲慢與偏見》中班奈特的第三個孩子瑪麗受到的關注最少。

Mary, the thirdborn Bennett child in the novel Pride and Prejudice, receives the least attention.

亞瑟王子是維多利亞女王的第三個兒子，也是她的第七個孩子。

Prince Arthur was Queen Victoria's thirdborn son and her seventh child overall.


salivary

/ˈsælɪˌvɛɹi/


anarchistic

more anarchistic (comparative)
most anarchistic (superlative)

混亂的；無法無天的；自由奔放的

With the exception of the leader's boppish title tune, the album is filled with anarchistic jazz reduxes of Nichols, Ellington, Kurt Weill, and Cole Porter.

2004, Todd S. Jenkins, Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia (page 234)


anarchic

more anarchic (comparative)
most anarchic (superlative)


anarchical

more anarchical (comparative)
most anarchical (superlative)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-anarchical.wav


anarcho-syndicalist

An anarcho-syndicalist commune


syndical

more syndical (comparative)
most syndical (superlative)


toilsome

more toilsome (comparative)
most toilsome (superlative)

‘And you, Sir knight,’ / (Said she) ‘that taken have this toylesome paine / For wretched woman […]!’

1596，埃德蒙·斯宾塞，“Book V, Canto X”, in 仙后（The Faerie Qveene . […]），London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

The whole of the interior of South Africa is, of course, one vast plateau at a considerable elevation, and all the main lines coming up from the coast have some toilsome climbing.

1940 July，“Notes and News: Timetables in South Africa”, in Railway Magazine，頁 422:


toylesome

more toylesome (comparative)
most toylesome (superlative)


oxidising

more oxidising (comparative)
most oxidising (superlative)


oxidised

more oxidised (comparative)
most oxidised (superlative)


oxidized

more oxidized (comparative)
most oxidized (superlative)


aluminized

aluminised在美國、加拿大和牛津英式英語拼寫的标准拼写


bronzed

more bronzed (comparative)
most bronzed (superlative)


blackened

源自中古英語 blakend、blakind、blakkenid、blakenid，等同於blacken + -ed。

more blackened (comparative)
most blackened (superlative)

發黑的
charred (“燒焦的”)之同義詞

[...] after journeying across pleasant agricultural countryside to Leicester and thence though the blackened and busy industrial area that stretches almost unbrokenly for over 100 miles from Trent through Rotherham and Leeds to Keighley, [...].

[…]穿过宜人的农村，来到莱斯特，然后穿过发黑的繁忙工业区，从特伦特经罗瑟勒姆和利兹到基斯利，绵延100多英里，几乎没有间断。[…]

1939 July，John D. Hewitt，“Some Notable British Main Lines: 1. Settle and Carlisle, L.M.S.R.”, in Railway Magazine，頁 34:

發黑的
blued (“發藍的”)之同義詞


arsenian

more arsenian (comparative)
most arsenian (superlative)


intime

源自拉丁語 intimus (“最深處的”)，可能經由法語 intime。对比intimate (形容詞)。

more intime (comparative)
most intime (superlative)

As to the composition or dissolution of mixed bodies, which is the chief work of elements, and requires an intime application of the agents, water hath the principality and excess over earth.

a. 1665, Sir Kenelm Digby, Of bodies and of mans soul to discover the immortality


diable

源自法語 (à la) diable，源自diable (“惡魔”)，源自古法語。devil、diablo和diabolus 的同源對似詞。

sauce diable


bronzen

more bronzen (comparative)
most bronzen (superlative)


Sinhalese

more Sinhalese (comparative)
most Sinhalese (superlative)


auditive

Auditive dyslexia is characterized by great difficulties with the sounds of spoken language.

2000, Torleiv Høien, Per Sundberg, Dyslexia: 源自Theory to Intervention (page 13)


digne

源自中古英語 digne，源自古法語 digne，源自拉丁語 dignus。

more digne (comparative)
most digne (superlative)

值得的，應得的；榮耀的；合宜的

Deeds they shall do so digne memorious glory, / song shall not suit nor Hist'ory hold the story.

1880，Richard Francis Burton，Os Lusíadas，卷 II，頁 387:


urinant

源自拉丁語 ūrīnāns，ūrīnor (“潛水”) 的現在主動不定式。

hauriant, haurient

指魚圖案頭朝下尾朝上，好像要潛水一般的

指魚圖案頭朝下尾朝上，好像要潛水一般的


vengeant

more vengeant (comparative)
most vengeant (superlative)


object-oriented

more object-oriented (comparative)
most object-oriented (superlative)

/ˈɒbdʒɛkt ɔɹɪəntɪd/

/ˈɒbdʒɪkt ɒɹɪəntɪd/


explementary

Two angles whose sum is a circle (360°) are explementary angles, and either is the explement of the other.

兩個角度總和為周角（360°）的角是一對共軛角，互為對方的輔角。

2002，Nathaniel Bowditch，American Practical Navigator，頁 317:


ponent

借自意大利語 ponente (“西方”)，最终源自拉丁語 ponent-、ponens，ponere (“放，置”) 的現在分詞。

Forth rush the Levant and the Ponent winds, Eurus and Zephyr

1667，John Milton，“Book 10”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books，London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; 再版為 Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […]，London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

There was an ambiguity surpassing conjecture in her eyes, and the wind rose up around us in that half barbaric Russian garden with its alien Diana blackened by snows and fierce ponent winds


suant

源自中古英語 suant，源自盎格魯-諾曼語 suant，源自古法語 suiant、sivant，sivre (“跟隨”) 的現在分詞，源自拉丁語 sequor。

more suant (comparative)
most suant (superlative)


old hat

不详。《牛津英语词典》认为与德語 alter Hut (名词，字面意思是“旧帽子”)有关。

more old hat (comparative)
most old hat (superlative)

banal

司空见惯的，老生常谈的；陈腐的，老一套的 （自20世纪）

commonplace

司空见惯的，老生常谈的；陈腐的，老一套的 （自20世纪）

cliché

司空见惯的，老生常谈的；陈腐的，老一套的 （自20世纪）

démodé

司空见惯的，老生常谈的；陈腐的，老一套的 （自20世纪）

passé

司空见惯的，老生常谈的；陈腐的，老一套的 （自20世纪）

unchic

司空见惯的，老生常谈的；陈腐的，老一套的 （自20世纪）

司空见惯的，老生常谈的；陈腐的，老一套的 （自20世纪）

Coward is such an old hand at this kind of thing that he makes it seem old hat.

1946年November11日，“New Plays in Manhattan”, in Time:

In fact, monorails are rather old hat.

1964 July，“The mythology of monorails”, in Modern Railways，頁 1:

It is old hat for a sex scandal to bring down a politician.

1987年May8日，Elaine Sciolino，“Washington Talk: The Hart Story Grips the Capital”, in New York Times:

Based on the size of the crowd, perhaps the queen is old hat.

2007年May4日，Fredrick Kunkle, Paul Duggan，“Straining for a Glimpse of Royalty”, in Washington Post:

The only real knock against “Mortshall” is that “Rick and Morty get sick of each other and split up for a while” feels kind of old hat at this point—the comic premise of the show requires their relationship to be toxic (because a lot of the humor comes from seeing Rick be a shit and seeing Morty try haplessly to deal with Rick being a shit), and they can only try and sell the illusion that anything is going to change so many times before it starts to get stale.

2021年September6日，Zack Handlen，“Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in AV Club:


outré

源自法語 outré，源自 outrer (“誇大；激怒”)；參見 outre (“在……之外”)。

more outré (comparative)
most outré (superlative)

I believe I have been very rude; but really Miss Fairfax has done her hair in so odd a way—so very odd a way—that I cannot keep my eyes from her. I never saw any thing so outrée!—Those curls!—This must be a fancy of her own. I see nobody else looking like her!

我觉得我已经很无礼了，但是说真的，费尔法克斯小姐的头发很奇怪，真的非常奇怪：我的眼神没法儿从她身上移开。我从来没有见过这么奇特的头发！——那一撮撮的卷发！——这一定是她自己精心做出来的。我从没见过像她这副样子的人！

He hated people who did not know where to stop. Ernest was always so outré and strange; there was never any knowing what he would do next, except that it would be something unusual and silly.
他讨厌那些不知所措的人。欧内斯特总是显得那么离谱和奇怪；你永远不知道他下一步会做什么，只知道会是一些不寻常的蠢事。

1903, Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, ch 50:

To begin with, King Lear is the most unconventional, the most nearly hysterical, the most outré and outrageous play Shakespeare ever wrote.
首先，《李尔王》是莎士比亚写过的最不按常理出牌、最近乎歇斯底里、最反传统和最出格的戏剧。

1992, David Littlejohn, The Ultimate Art: Essays Around and About Opera, Chapter 16: The Twentieth Century Takes on Shakespeare, page 261,


suent

more suent (comparative)
most suent (superlative)

Bankruptcy and repudiation are the springboards from which much of our civilization vaults and turns its sommersets. ...Yet the Middlesex Cattle Show goes off here with éclat annually, as if all the joints of the agricultural machine were suent.

1854, Henry David Thoreau, Walden or, Life in the Woods, (1962) The New American Library, A Signet Classic, 16th printing, page 27:


sinnier

sinny 的比較級形式。


spickest

spick的最高級形式。

While George junior was married to Sonia he had the spickest pair o' boats on the Gut.

1994, Sheila Stewart, Ramlin Rose: The Boatwoman's Story (page 51)

Sunday was the day we'd get to wear / Our best trousers and shirts, our spickest shoes, / To the chapel's echoing hush.


spick

spicker (comparative)
spickest (superlative)


subatomic

The electron microscope is able to resolve detail at the subatomic level.

电子显微镜能够在亚原子水平上分辨细节。


dolent

源自中古英語 dolent，源自古法語 dolent，源自拉丁語 dolēns，doleō (“悲傷，傷心”) 的現在分詞。

more dolent (comparative)
most dolent (superlative)

Poor wretch! who once hath paced that dolent city

1874, James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night

‘Did you find them all, Uncle Van?’ she inquired, sighing, laying her dolent head on his shoulder.

1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 148:


rayonny

rayonné的另一種拼寫法


obstinent

more obstinent (comparative)
most obstinent (superlative)


obstinant

more obstinant (comparative)
most obstinant (superlative)


survivant

more survivant (comparative)
most survivant (superlative)


destituent

源自拉丁語 destituens (“abandoning”), present participle of destituo (“I forsake, I abandon”)。

more destituent (comparative)
most destituent (superlative)

a destituent condition


unneeded

more unneeded (comparative)
most unneeded (superlative)


innecessary

more innecessary (comparative)
most innecessary (superlative)


narine

the narine membrane


retrait

源自中古法語 retrait。


essorant

站立並展開翅膀，像準備起飛的樣子

an essorant lark

essorant spirits, essorant rhetoric


distingué

more distingué (comparative)
most distingué (superlative)

By the time the blue dress was tried on, Madame Cie had, with the aid of a few pins, plaits, and a bow of blue ribbon, transformed the half-lace shawl into one of the smartest and distingué things imaginable; but when the bill came in at Christmas, for that five minutes' labor and distingué touch, she charged one pound eight.

穿上這條藍裙子的時候，Cie 夫人只用幾根針、幾條辮子和一條藍絲帶，就把這半條蕾絲披肩，改成了一件你可以想象出的最精巧、最優雅的服裝之一；然而聖誕節賬單到來時卻發現，穿戴好這優雅的裙子不過五分鐘時間，她要收費一鎊八便士。

1873，Charles Reade，章號 IX, in A Simpleton: A Story of the Day […]，卷 I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC，頁 57:

And she likes you so much, and thinks you so accomplished and distingué-looking, and was just as set as I was to have you for best man.

她非常喜欢你，认为你又有修养，长相也很出众，她和我一样想请你做伴郎。

1892，Robert Louis Stevenson，Lloyd Osbourne，“In which Jim and I Take Different Ways”, in The Wrecker，London, Paris: Cassell & Company, […], →OCLC，頁 179:


distingue

more distingue (comparative)
most distingue (superlative)

/dɪsˈtæŋɡeɪ/

/dɪstæŋˈɡeɪ/

時髦的；優雅的；給人以優越感的

It was very noble, very distingue, to ruin one's self without knowing how!

在不知不觉中毁掉自己，这是很高尚、很有魅力的！

2001，Emile Gaboriau，Mystery of Oricval，頁 158:


antiaging

more antiaging (comparative)
most antiaging (superlative)


perse

源自中古英語 pers，源自古法語，源自中世紀拉丁語 persus，逆構自 Persicus (“波斯人”)，源自古希臘語 Περσῐ́ς (Persĭ́s)。


Instaworthy

more Instaworthy (comparative)
most Instaworthy (superlative)

Instagrammable

上镜的，适合拍照上传到社交媒体的

上镜的，适合拍照上传到社交媒体的

That wildflower meadow may be an Instaworthy campsite – but your tent can crush delicate vegetation.

2016, Darby Levin & Haley Weiss, "Trail Foods: Noshing in Nature", Penn Appétit (University of Pennsylvania), Spring 2016, page 17:

Most tourists make a quick stop at one of two places in La Jolla: the Children's Pool to see the famous sea lions, or the La Jolla Shores Park to take an Instaworthy shot of the Scripps Pier at sunset.

2017, Amber Manan, "San Diego Hidden Gems", Twist, Spring 2017, page 33:

A stone's throw from the hustle and bustle of the CBD is Elk Expresso, where a visionary menu of Instaworthy breakfast spreads are every bit as much of a feast for the eyes as the mouth.

2018, Laura Dundovic, "Golden girl", Jetstar, March 2018, page 23:


sultanic

more sultanic (comparative)
most sultanic (superlative)

蘇丹（伊斯蘭教國家君主）的；蘇丹國的


formulaic

more formulaic (comparative)
most formulaic (superlative)

That TV series has become awfully formulaic in the last couple of seasons.

那部连续剧在最新那几季里变得特别俗套。


obstruent

more obstruent (comparative)
most obstruent (superlative)

an obstruent medicine


fye

fire的重新拼写，其反映了一种带滑音弱化和平化的无卷舌发音，见于美国南部英语或非洲裔美国人白话英语内。

more fye (comparative)
most fye (superlative)

fire的發音拼寫，代表了美國南部英語。

Dude dat man just hit dem folks, and it was so fye m8.


tore

源自中古英語 tor、tore、toor，源自古諾爾斯語 tor- (“困難的；錯誤的；不好的”，前綴)，源自原始日耳曼語 *tuz- (“困難的；錯誤的；不好的”)，源自原始印歐語 *dus- (“不好的；困難的”)。與古高地德語 zur- (前綴)、哥特語 𐍄𐌿𐌶- (tuz-，“困難的”，前綴)、古希臘語 δυσ- (dus-，“不好的；困難的”，前綴)同源。參見dys-。

more tore (comparative)
most tore (superlative)

強大的，堅固的；大量的，巨大的


bifunctional

有兩個官能團或結合位點的

涉及到兩個官能團或結合位點的


biomedical

The research problem was biomedical in nature but the research approach adopted was multidisciplinary, with biomedical, psychological and anthropological aspects. Despite joint efforts, our biomedical colleagues felt that [...]

2006，Mwenda Ntarangwi, David Mills, Mustafa H. M. Babiker (editors)，African anthropologies: history, critique, and practice，頁 253:

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias have come to be defined as biomedical in nature.

2007，Athena McLean，The person in dementia: a study in nursing home care in the US，頁 28:

Clearly, some research undertaken by children's nurses is biomedical in nature although a significant amount of contemporary research is qualitative focusing on children's experiences and evaluating services.

2011，Gosia M. Brykczyńska, Joan Simons，Ethical and Philosophical Aspects of Nursing Children and Young People，頁 208:


erodable

more erodable (comparative)
most erodable (superlative)


tamer

tame 的比較級形式。


riskless

more riskless (comparative)
most riskless (superlative)

Nothing is completely riskless—not even staying at home in bed.

沒有事情是完全無危險的——就連待在家裡躺床上也不是。


anaesthetic

more anaesthetic (comparative)
most anaesthetic (superlative)


snowbound

more snowbound (comparative)
most snowbound (superlative)


smitten

源自中古英語 smiten，源自古英語 smiten、ġesmiten，源自原始日耳曼語 *smitanaz，原始日耳曼語 *smītaną (“投掷”)的过去分词，等价于smite + -en (過去分詞後綴)。

more smitten (comparative)
most smitten (superlative)

被打的；被杀害的等，参见 smite
狂热的

[A] smited man is a man struck; a smitten man is a man affected by the act of smiting: […]

1850，Matthew Stewart，Remarks on the Subject of Language, with Some Observations in the Form of Notes, Illustrative of the Information which Language may Afford of the History and Opinions of Mankind，London: Printed by Richard and John Edward-Taylor, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, for, and at the expense of the author, →OCLC，頁 30:

There was a tense silence over the throng as the old man stood and looked at the figure at his feet. There were shadows on the earl's face, and his hands shook, for the smitten man was his son.

1903，Warwick Deeping，“Book I. The Way to Winchester”, in Uther and Igraine，New York, N.Y.: The Outlook Company, 出版於 1904, →OCLC，頁 22:

The Bible shows the way of God with man and the way of man with God. It contains both the complaint of God against the wicked and the shriek of the smitten man, demanding justice of God.

1997，Abraham Joshua Herschel，Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism: 源自the Writings of Abraham Joshua Herschel，New York, N.Y.: Free Press Paperbacks, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN，頁 250:

[W]hen the alternate designation is introduced, turning the character from “man” or “brother” to “his smiter,” this balance is disturbed, and suddenly we have a smiter and a smitten person, not two people in a fight with each other.

2010，Assnat Bartor，“Point of View”, in Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Casuistic Laws of the Pentateuch (Ancient Israel and its Literature; 5)，Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, →ISBN，頁 175:

In the argument, which followed between Job and his comforters, the poor, smitten man regained some of his faith and uttered many noble words concerning the wisdom of God. Finally, God revealed to Job the whole truth of the matter.

2010，Constance B. Nealey，The Teaching/Learning Process: Undergirded by Biblical Teachings: Teaching the Bible Way，[Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN，頁 50:

There is not, I am persuaded, an individual of the many Nature-smitten enthusiasts who yearly visit the wild glens of Kincardineshire, that would not walk barefoot a hundred miles to kneel at the tomb of him who founded the beautifully-situated village of Balrangle.

1869，Joseph Grant，“The Grocer's Daughter”, in Tales of the Glens with Ballads and Songs，第new版, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire: Published by John Taylor, →OCLC，頁 9:

One of the side benefits of such has been making the acquaintances of similarly smitten enthusiasts, and inevitably they are keen to share both plants and experiences.

1980，Arboretum Bulletin，Seattle, Wash.: [University of Washington], →OCLC，頁 26:

Welcome to the world of the Hobie Cat addict, that 100,000-strong armada of hopelessly smitten enthusiasts who insist that nothing in life quite measures up to the unrestrained joy of breezing along on a twin-hulled Hobie.

1981，Time，卷 118, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN，頁 147:

被打的；被杀害的等，参见 smite
坠入爱河的

At the end of the long procession came a smitten woman. […] I think of the women who have fastened the tendrils of their heart's affection round unworthy men, and have married them, hoping, trusting and believing that their love and influence would be powerful enough to win the men to sobriety and virtue. Alas! how mistaken they have been!

1912, Thomas Holmes, “Marriage in the Underworld”, in London's Underworld (The Making of the Modern Law), London: J. M. Dent & Sons; New York, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton, OCLC 60735063; republished as London; New York, N.Y.: Anthem Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1-84331-219-2, page 118:

In “The Soldier Maid,” a woman falls in love with the cross-dressed woman, thinking she is a man. The smitten woman, then, perceives herself in heterosexual mode – though the person to whom she is attracted is actually female.

1997，Pauline Greenhill，“‘The Handsome Cabin Boy’: Cross-Dressing Ballads, Sexualities, and Gendered Meanings”, in Undisciplined Women: Tradition and Culture in Canada，Montreal, Que., Kingston, Ont.: McGill-Queen's University Press, →ISBN，頁 119:

“I’m a man, Violet,” he reminded her as they walked out to his car after making their goodbyes to their host. “I know a smitten man when I see one. Kemp’s got it bad.”

2005，Diana Palmer，Boss Man，New York, N.Y.: Harlequin, →ISBN:

Isabella had complained to her father on several occasions over his actions. Father had responded by stating that it was natural for a healthy man to pay attention to a beautiful woman. The curt thank you and show of disinterest was no distraction to the smitten man.

2012，Joseph Hale，Memoirs of the Browning Man，Houston, Tex.: Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co., →ISBN，頁 49:


pierced

more pierced (comparative)
most pierced (superlative)


minced

源自中古英語 mynced、ymynced、y-mynsed，等同於mince + -ed。

more minced (comparative)
most minced (superlative)


littered

more littered (comparative)
most littered (superlative)


wiser

wise 的比較級形式。


milled

Coarsely milled maize is termed cornmeal, but when finely milled and sifted it is called corn flour.

玉米經過粗磨的產物，叫做 cornmeal（“玉米粉”），而經過細磨和篩分的產物，就叫做 corn flour（“玉米澱粉”）。


flavored

more flavored (comparative)
most flavored (superlative)

This is only grape-flavored soda. The flavoring is artificial; real grape juice tastes much richer.

這不過是葡萄味汽水而已。味道都是人工調配的；真正的葡萄汁味道更厚重。


favoured

more favoured (comparative)
most favoured (superlative)

有著某種外貌或身體特徵的

ill-favoured; well-favoured; hard-favoured

其貌不揚的；貌美的；面貌嚴厲的

a white-favoured footman


cuter

cute 的比較級形式。


alight

动词可能另派生自其他词：
* 源自中古英語 alighten (“点燃；开始燃烧；变明亮；激起，唤起；（比喻义）启迪，启发”) [以及其他形式]，源自古英語 ālīhtan、ālȳhtan (“点亮”)（可能仿拉丁語 illūmināre，illūminō (“照亮”)的现在主动不定式），源自ā- (表示“离，出，走”的前缀) + līhtan、līehtan (“闪亮，照耀；照亮”)（最终源自原始印歐語 *lewk- (“看；闪；亮”)）；和
* 源自中古英語 onlighten (“使...发光；（比喻义）启迪，启发”) [以及其他形式]，源自古英語 onlīhtan，inlīhtan (“照亮；使...发光；发光；（比喻义）使...醍醐灌顶，启发”)的一个变体，源自原始日耳曼語 *inliuhtijaną (“照亮”)，源自*in (“进”) + *liuhtijaną (“照亮”)（最终源自原始印歐語 *lewk-，见上）；和
* alight (形容词)的晚期用法。
英语中，作a- (表示“离，出，走”的前缀) + light (“点（火）；点燃；燃起来；照亮；照路”)分析。
形容词和副词派生自晚期中古英語 alight (形容词) [以及其他形式]，源自古英語 ālīht、ālȳht，古英語 ālīhtan、ālȳhtan (动词，见上)的过去分词形式；但随后亦被解读为a- (表示“到，上，于”的前缀，用来表示条件、状态或方式) + light (“明亮的，清晰的”)。
同源词
* 德語 erleuchten (“照亮”)

The burning embers and the dry wind quickly set the whole neighbourhood alight.

燃着的灰烬和干燥的风很快将附近的所有房子点燃了。

The sticks were damp and wouldn’t catch alight.

With a heavy load of 650 tons for Arras and Lille we started very quietly, with about a third of a glass of water, and the fire barely alight. This frightened me, but I had reckoned without the 4-6-4's American mechanical stoker.

1961 February，Balmore [pseudonym]，“Driving and Firing Modern French Steam Locomotives – Part One”, in Trains Illustrated，London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC，頁 110:

发光的；颜色鲜艳的，艳丽的 开的，发光的

Her face was alight with happiness.


bussin

“Uhh, Georgetown is not around the corner, but I feel cupcakes do be bussin.” “Yoooo, that's what I'm saying. Especially that maple creme and bacon one […] ”

2018, Sol, Diary of the Plug's Daughter 3, Sullivan Group Publishing (ISBN 9781648546907):

I hope at SC State dem boi food be bussin like how e iz down ya. Fo real.

(我們可以確定引用的日期嗎？) Travis Lamar, Memoirs of a Kuntri Boi, page 81:

“Her cake and brownies be bussin.” Swan never looked up from what he was doing or he would have seen a look of total longing on Shay's face.

(我們可以確定引用的日期嗎？), Y Blak Moore, Heartless (ISBN 9781641364737), page 85:


bussin'

2017, Y Blak Moore, Heartless (ISBN 9781641364737), page 85:

They all sucked their teeth and started fixing my plate. The food was bussin', they knew what they were doing in the kitchen.

2020, Travis Lamar, Memoirs of a Kuntri Boi, page 81:


lanjiao

源自泉漳話 𡳞鳥／𡳞鸟 (lān-chiáu)。

more lanjiao (comparative)
most lanjiao (superlative)


astronomic

more astronomic (comparative)
most astronomic (superlative)


Madrilenian

more Madrilenian (comparative)
most Madrilenian (superlative)


Madrileño

源自西班牙語 madrileño。

more Madrileño (comparative)
most Madrileño (superlative)


cardiological

more cardiological (comparative)
most cardiological (superlative)


Provençal

/ˌpɹɒvɑːnˈsɑːl/

/ˌpɹɒvənˈsɑːl/

/ˌpɹɒvɒnˈsɑːl/


Occitan

more Occitan (comparative)
most Occitan (superlative)


wussy

wussier (comparative)
wussiest (superlative)

There was enough food for a soccer team and we were going to grill it. Our meatfest included no girly utensils, no wussy plates. Just our hands, mouths, and incisors.

2013，L. A. Campbell，Cartboy and the Time Capsule，頁 112:


uchronic

more uchronic (comparative)
most uchronic (superlative)

架空历史的 （文学作品等）

Uchronic visions were part of Icelandic collective representations of the world, and as such they deeply influenced the response of the society to its own history.

1992，Kirsten Hastrup，Other Histories，頁 113:

Then there was the context: the British countryside may have largely been reduced to a monocultural desert of agribusiness, but our uchronic vision of it persists: we expect to find Rosie with some sharp cider under the haystack, not a roseate energy drink.

2014, Will Self, The Guardian, 15 Jun 2014:


in chief

常置於表示職業的名詞後。


year-old

結合形 -year-old 可追溯到中古英語（ȝeer old(e)、yeer old(e)、yere old(e)）。

前可接數字，表示多少年/歲。

He bought a year-old car.


unsilenced

有聲的；不沉默的（本應無聲或沉默）

未消音的武器

不再沉默的抗議聲


indesirable

more indesirable (comparative)
most indesirable (superlative)


lowdown

由low + down构成的词义为“谦逊的”的形容词在16世纪40年代便有记载，在1888年又出现有“粗鄙的，低贱的”一意。在1915年记载有名词用法，指“秘密，内幕消息”等。

more lowdown (comparative)
most lowdown (superlative)

lowdown tactics

假装异性恋的 （和男人有性关系但假装是异性恋的）


moelleux

more moelleux (comparative)
most moelleux (superlative)


assorted

more assorted (comparative)
most assorted (superlative)


afoot

(表语) 站着的，发生着的

Sunny moves through these final days quickly, easily, buoyed by routine even though change is afoot in all directions.

2011, Maile Chapman, Your Presence Is Requested at Suvanto: A Novel

Now there are plans afoot to introduce a couple of extra trains to the timetable in December, with the long-term goal of a doubling of the service to eight trains a day.

2019 October，James Abbott，“Esk Valley revival”, in Modern Railways，頁 76:


tongue-in-cheek

该短语暗指了将自己的舌头伸出搭到自己脸上的面部表情。首个书面引文见于1828年，但是已经不清楚它指的是字面意思还是现在的意思。较晚出现的Richard Barham的引文中的这个词的意思则很清楚。

more tongue-in-cheek (comparative)
most tongue-in-cheek (superlative)

不是认真的，开玩笑的，随便说说的

He gave a tongue-in-cheek explanation of why the sky was blue, offering a theory about some primordial discount on light blue paint.

他开玩笑解释为什么天空是蓝的，说什么开天辟地时天蓝色染料在打折。

It was in this era, too, that author and Scotland the Brave songwriter Cliff Hanley penned The Glasgow Underground, a tongue-in-cheek love letter to the Subway in song.

2021年December29日，Conrad Landin，“Glasgow Subway: a city institution”, in RAIL，期 947，頁 45:


tongue in cheek

more tongue in cheek (comparative)
most tongue in cheek (superlative)


forrad

forrard的另一種拼寫法。


out and about

出门在外的，在日常活动的

He carried a cellular phone so that friends could reach him when he was out and about.

他带着手机，好让自己在外面时朋友能联系上他。

She had been in hospital, but now she is out and about again.

她之前住院，现在已经又可以出门了。


party to

对...知情的；参与...的


unfazed

more unfazed (comparative)
most unfazed (superlative)

不害怕的，不犹豫的，不动摇的，不惧的，无畏的

Say, but isn't Annie Watson a dandy witness? She testified as straight as a book. And she stood a hot cross-examination unphased.

1885年November9日，“They Talk About It”, in St. Paul Daily Globe，St. Paul, MN，頁 5:

The Johnnie O'Briens and the Barney O'Rourkes were there, too, apparently unfazed by the magnificence of the surroundings.

1889年March11日，“Social and Personal”, in Washington Critic，Washington, DC，頁 2:

Stu couldn't believe I was so unfazed by the whole incident, though inwardly I resolved that I wouldn't let this bastard have the last laugh.

2005，Sean Dooley，The Big Twitch，Sydney: Allen and Unwin，頁 131:

After stumbling and landing on her face, the toddler picked herself up and continued unfazed.

跌倒摔到脸上以后，幼童爬起来，没有迟疑继续走。

The tall man throughout was "unphased" -- the dewy and least compact one surrendered!

1855年December10日，T. B. Thorpe，“Remembrances of the Mississippi”, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine，卷 xii, 期 lxvii, New York, NY，頁 35:

Being a lad of a little upwards of a century, and maintaining, as all widowers do, that I was unfazed by time ...

1874，Moses Adams，What I Did With My Fifty Millions，Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co.，頁 106:

He next, while the flame continued to heat the chimney to the utmost, dashed upon it a dipper of water, and still the chimney was unfazed

1876年January18日，“Local News”, in State Journal，Jefferson City, MO，頁 3:


stillborn

unfruitful

流产的，不成功的，未遂的

Queen Anne, before Elizabeth, bore a still-born son.

1768, Horace Walpole, "Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard III,"

Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?

1978, Holy Bible (New International Version), Job 3:16,

流产的，不成功的，未遂的

This, gentlemen, is a list of the joint-stock companies created last year. . . . Of these some were stillborn, but the majority hold the market.

1859, Charles Reade, Love Me Little, Love Me Long, ch. 11,

His lips framed themselves to whistle the first bars of a popular song, but the sound died stillborn.

1915, William MacLeod Raine, The Highgrader, ch. 18,


touched in the head

more touched in the head (comparative)
most touched in the head (superlative)

I believe he's more touched in the head than I am.

1990，Reinaldo Arenas，The Palace of the White Skunks，頁 136:

Who could say, perhaps Nastasya was even more touched in the head now, and if she used to make up stories about the old man crying and bleeding when she was here, maybe she had moved on to death over there?

1991 [1979], Valentin Rasputin, Antonina W. Bouis (translator), Farewell to Matyora, page 199:

It is broad daylight and if she can not simply guide the car along the highway then this bitch was more touched in the head that^([sic]) I thought.

2003，Tracee A. Hanna，A Little Bit of Sinning，頁 163:


sheepish

源自中古英語 schepische、shepisse、shepisshe，等价于sheep + -ish。

more sheepish (comparative)
most sheepish (superlative)

a sheepish girl

a sheepish grin


squidgy

squidgier (comparative)
squidgiest (superlative)

He was one of those dangerous people who are soft, squidgy and cowlike provided they have what they want. And because he had always had what he wanted, and had seemed easily pleased with it, it had never occurred to anybody that he was anything other than soft, squidgy and cowlike.

1987，Douglas Adams，Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency，Simon & Schuster，頁 102:

It consists of two layers of ground cashew nuts, mixed with breadcrumbs, onions, nutmeg and vegetable stock, and separated by a vibrant green herb stuffing, the main ingredient of which is also bread. Although surprisingly moist, thanks to the stock (indeed, the contrast between the crisp exterior and the squidgy middle is horribly moreish), the combination of parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs reminds me of a very fancy loaf of garlic bread – and all but overpowers the sweet flavour of the cashews.

2011年December15日，Felicity Cloake，“How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian:


full of oneself

more full of oneself (comparative)
most full of oneself (superlative)

自满的，自以为是的，得意洋洋的

I thought it not amiss to write him a line to let him know the regard you had for him, for as I know him to be vastly vain and full of himself I thought this might be a spur to his zeale.

1897，Andrew Lang，章號 8, in Pickle the Spy:


full of it

more full of it (comparative)
most full of it (superlative)

full of shit (“在撒谎的，在放屁的”)的碎誓形式。

Do you believe him? I think he's full of it.

你信他吗，我觉得他在放屁。


authorial

more authorial (comparative)
most authorial (superlative)

autorial

作者的，作家的 (常指书籍的作者)

auctorial

作者的，作家的 (常指书籍的作者)

作者的，作家的 (常指书籍的作者)


testy

中古英語 testif (“任性的”)，源自古法語 testu，源自teste (“头”) + -u。对比现代法語 tête (“头”)、têtu (“固执的”)。

testier (comparative)
testiest (superlative)

He made testy remarks.

Otherwise, we could end up with a repeat of what happened with social media companies after the 2016 election — a collision of Silicon Valley power and Washington ignorance, which resulted in nothing but gridlock and testy hearings.

2022年August24日，Kevin Roose，“We Need to Talk About How Good A.I. Is Getting”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


gleefull

more gleefull (comparative)
most gleefull (superlative)


high-maintenance

根据Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang，比喻义经由1989年恋爱喜剧《当哈利碰上莎莉》（When Harry Met Sally...）普及开来。

more high-maintenance (comparative)
most high-maintenance (superlative)

让人操心的，让人放不下心的，让人费心的

There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance.

1989，Nora Ephron，When Harry Met Sally... (motion picture), spoken by Harry Burns (Billy Crystal):

He has this incredibly high-maintenance girlfriend; if he doesn't tell her that he loves her every five minutes, she tends to break down into hysterical depressive weepy fits.

他的女朋友很麻烦，如果他没有每五分钟告诉她他爱她，她就会歇斯底里痛不欲生地哭起来。


shandy

源自方言词shand (“无价值的”)的加长形式，或源自shand (“耻辱”) + -y。

shandier (comparative)
shandiest (superlative)

平和的，温柔的，害羞的，不情愿的

难看的，不好的，平庸的；不整洁的，凌乱的


humongous

more humongous (comparative)
most humongous (superlative)

/ˌhjuːˈmʌŋɡəs/

/ˌhjuːˈmɒŋɡəs/

[çu̟ːˈmʊŋɡəs]

[ˌçu̟ːˈmɐŋɡəs]

Solomon had pulled this humongous fish that was bigger than anything weʼd ever seen.

2015，Chigozie Obioma，The Fishermen，ONE，頁 19:


humungous

more humungous (comparative)
most humungous (superlative)


honest to God

对比swear to God。原用作短句副词或叹词，来修饰整个从句或表达方式，honest用法类似于“Honest, I had no idea! (“说实话，我真不知道”)”。


honest-to-God

He's an honest-to-God saint; I don't know what I would do without him!

他是个如假包换的圣人，没他的话我都不知道怎么办才好。


doe-eyed

more doe-eyed (comparative)
most doe-eyed (superlative)

眼神无辜的，眼神温柔的，眼神澄澈的，眼神迷离的

The graphic energy of their martial arts combat was toned down, their slit-eyed ethnic specificity was made into doe-eyed racial ambiguity and their cynical sneers softened into eager grins.

2000, Dudley Jones, Tony Watkins, A necessary fantasy?: the heroic figure in children's popular culture (page 273)

[H]owever hard she pushed the tough-talkin' shtick, she remained doe-eyed, glowing and somehow unassailably demure.

2014年January21日，Hermione Hoby，“Julia Roberts interview for August: Osage County – 'I might actually go to hell for this ...': Julia Roberts reveals why her violent, Oscar-nominated performance in August: Osage County made her feel 'like a terrible person' [print version: 'I might actually go to hell for this ...' (18 January 2014, p. R4)]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):


washed up

more washed up (comparative)
most washed up (superlative)

完蛋的，失败的，到头了的，没有前途的

Pavarotti's washed up as a singer, in my view.

我觉得Pavarotti的歌手生涯已经完蛋了。

It would be difficult, for example, to imagine a bigger, more obvious subject for comedy than the laughable self-delusion of washed-up celebrities, especially if the washed-up celebrity in question is Adam West, a camp icon who can go toe to toe with William Shatner as the king of winking self-parody.

2012年June3日，Nathan Rabin，“TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in (請指定書籍名或刊物名):

Reize: 'WOAH! ARE YOU FOR REAL, MISTER? [...] AND YOU EVEN GOT A BELT WITH YOUR NAME ON IT?! THE BAZ... I KNEW IT! YOU MUST BE A NOBLE WARRIOR!' / Baz: 'PSHHH. SCRAM, KID. I'M JUST A NOBODY. I'M ALL WASHED UP. IT JUST AIN'T MY DAY.'
（請為本引文添加中文翻譯）

2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, "Story" (Reize), in Shovel Knight Showdown (version 4.1), Nintendo Switch:


sassy

saucy的变换形式，原用在美式英语。

sassier (comparative)
sassiest (superlative)

不要脸的，粗鲁的，无礼的 （自1833年）

Yes, gemmen, we mus stan on our zarve rights. Wat! shall de sassy wite man Nullifly the Guberment? and shall not we, de color men, Nullifly de wite one?

1833，Elnathan Elmwood [pseudonym; Asa Greene]，“A Meeting of Black Politicians—Cæsar Johnson’s Speech on Nullification”, in A Yankee among the Nullifiers: An Auto-biography，第2nd版, New York, N.Y.: Printed and published by William Pearson; Cortlandt-Street, →OCLC，頁 111:

When the red skins seed that the British and Americans war going to clapper clawing, they thought it war time for them to raze up thar brissls, and look out for plunder. They begun to be a leetle too sassy for cumfirt.

1840，[Davy] Crockett，“Colonel Crockett’s History of the Life of Gen. [William Henry] Harrison, alias Old Tippecanoe”, in The American Miscellany of Popular Tales, Essays, Sketches of Character, Poetry, and Jeux d’Esprit. By Transatlantic Authors，卷 II, 期 49, London: G. Berger, Holywell Street, Strand; Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.; and all booksellers, →OCLC，頁 315，列 1:

Oh, did n't I handle my gun, boys, – / My gun, boys, with shout upon shout? / And did n't the balls rain among us? / And did n't the blood run about? / A shipmate was dashed dead beside me; / The splinters flew – death-yells uprolled; / Oh, sassy that fight of old Erie! / More sassy, though, Perry the Bold!

1867，Alfred B[illings] Street，“Perry the Bold”, in The Poems of Alfred B. Street. In Two Volumes，卷 II, New York, N.Y.: Published by Hurd and Houghton, 459 Broome Street，頁 129:

Brought her down with a crack of the bull-dogs, jest as she was makin' off: she's the sassiest of the whole lot, as white wenches always be.

1873，M. A. Avery，“The Guerillas.—Death of Major Hunter.”, in The Rebel General’s Loyal Bride: A True Picture of Scenes in the Late Civil War，Springfield, Mass.: W. J. Holland and Company, →OCLC，頁 116:

Jokes about blacks were more closely drawn from English jokes mocking servants and Irish people […] Many other jokes featured sassy servants besting their masters by playing dumb and taking instructions overly literally—another trope common in English servant jokes.

2006，John Wood Sweet，Bodies Politic: Negotiating Race in the American North, 1730–1830，Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN，頁 303:

But for those of you that don't know, what men really like, is for you to talk to them with a feisty little attitude. You spark their fire when you do that. The feistier and sassier you act, the better.

2014，Rachel Renee，“Dirty Talk”, in She Rules: A Must Have Rulebook for Dating，Bloomington, Ind.: Balboa Press, Hay House, →ISBN，頁 125:

The top isn't really slutty. Just a little sassier, more revealing than I'd usually go for.

2014，Jane Costello，章號 20, in The Time of Our Lives，London: Simon & Schuster UK, →ISBN，頁 179:

There was only so much packing one could do that was appropriate for army training and I was pretty sure my sassiest outfit and latest face enhancers were not required.

2014，Kate O'Leary，章號 1, in Twell and the Rebellion (The Como Chronicles; book 2)，White Bear Lake, Minn.: Fire and Ice, Melange Books, →ISBN，頁 5:

活泼的，精力充沛的，活跃的

Olives and preserved lemons add sassy tartness to salads, chicken tagines, and fish dishes […]

2012，Jeff Koehler，Morocco: A Culinary Journey with Recipes from the Spice-scented Markets of Marrakech to the Date-filled Oasis of Zagora，San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, →ISBN，頁 10:


toasty

toastier (comparative)
toastiest (superlative)

The toasty smell of baked baguettes pulled out of the oven, of vanilla, butter and sugar from the pastries, resonated in the air.

2013，Michelle Zarrin，From My Heart to Yours，頁 1:

[…] would you want to go to the expense of setting up a furnace in the cellar? It would make the whole house toasty warm; […]

1918，Gene Stratton-Porter，A Daughter of the Land:


under-handed

more under-handed (comparative)
most under-handed (superlative)


nosier

nosey 的比較級形式。


nosiest

nosey的最高級形式。


worlds apart

In terms of technology, today's media and that of the 19th century are worlds apart, but they still serve the same purpose.

在技术上，现在的媒体和19世纪的媒体已经如同天壤之别，但是它们的目的还是一样的。


wretchful

more wretchful (comparative)
most wretchful (superlative)

The wretch had the pernicious habit of writing in Milanese dialect. He was doubly wretchful when he took the liberty of giving birth to parodies of the Divine Comedy.

2012, Rudolph Altrocchi, PhD; Edited by Paul and John Altrocchi, The Playful Spirit: Italian Humor - Page 130:


aggro

源自aggravation 的截斷形式 + -o (指小后缀)，受到了aggressive的影响。

more aggro (comparative)
most aggro (superlative)

“The Chuckster say you two be finding aggro idiot who kilt Long,” said Dude.
I thought I understood but looked at Charles for help.
“Aggro means pissed off.” translated Charles. He still hadn't cracked a smile. Tardiness made Charles aggro.

2011，Bill Noel.，The Marsh: A Folly Beach Mystery，頁 70:

At the beginning of the twenty-first century the physically adept aggro femme had become a recurring motif in new circus and physical theatre.

2005，Peta Tait，Circus Bodies: cultural identity in aerial performance，頁 131:


dead as a doornail

源自中古英語 ded as dore-nail。字面意思为“死得和门钉一样的”。
最早在英语中的使用例之一是威廉·朗兰的诗歌Piers Plowman A. i. 161 "Fey withouten fait is febelore þen nouȝt, And ded as a dore-nayl"，但是不太可能是朗兰所造。此外还有William of Palerne l. 628 "For but ich haue bote of mi bale‥I am ded as dore-nail"，以及押头韵的辩论诗The Parlement of the Thre Ages内"Dede als a dore-nayle doune was he fallen" 65。这些文字记录的出现时间不详，可能比朗兰要早。
一种说得通解释是，门是只用木板和手工锻造的钉子制成的：钉子会长到足够dead nail (“钉死”)垂直的木板和水平的横档，让它们无法轻易分开。要达到这种效果，需要将钉子的突出部分敲入木头里。弯成这样，难以拉出的钉子一般称为“dead”，本词由此而来。

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-dead as a doornail.ogg

I picked up the phone, but the line was dead as a doornail.

我拿起电话筒，但里面完全没有声音。

We finally found John's cat run over in the next road. It was as dead as a doornail.

我们在另一条路上终于找到了John的猫，但它已经被碾过了，死透了。

音頻： (檔案)


dead set

more dead set (comparative)
most dead set (superlative)

hell-bent

坚定的，执著的，死心塌地的，专注而不动摇的

坚定的，执著的，死心塌地的，专注而不动摇的

If John is dead set on marrying Catherine, his parents' objection will only provoke a falling out.

如果John一定要娶Catherine，他的父母肯定会过来闹翻的。

The governor is dead set against the concealed weapons permit legislation and will veto it even if it costs her the re-election.

There are people here who are dead set on convincing everybody this hurricane is the result of climate change.

2018年September11日，Rush Limbaugh，“Hurricane Florence Heads for the Carolinas”, in The Rush Limbaugh Show (radio)，存檔自the original on 2019-04-17:

He is a dead set fool.

他就是个如假包换的笨蛋。


dead-set

more dead-set (comparative)
most dead-set (superlative)

dead set的另一種拼寫法


swish

swisher (comparative)
more swish (comparative)
swishest (superlative)
most swish (superlative)

This restaurant looks very swish — it even has linen tablecloths.

这个饭店看起来很高级，居然还有亚麻桌布。

All the shabby railway buildings in front of the station concourse have either been removed or transformed into a shopping complex and swish homes.

2020年June3日，Howard Johnston，“Regional News: Cambridge”, in Rail，頁 23:

When the boys go swish, they always score

2004，“Ladyflash”, in Thunder, Lightning, Strike，演出者 The Go! Team:

The Saints, who started the day third in the table, went marching on thanks to their own swish play and some staggering defending by the visitors.

2014年October18日，Paul Doyle，“Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter”, in The Guardian:


paralysant

more paralysant (comparative)
most paralysant (superlative)


wide awake

more wide awake (comparative)
most wide awake (superlative)

完全清醒的；警醒的，警觉的

"They are almost awake, not quite," said Lucy. She knew she herself was wide awake, wider than anyone usually is.

1951，C. S. Lewis，Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia:

I woke with a start. With the blackout curtains closed I didn't know what time it was. I looked at my watch. It said four o'clock. I had been asleep for only two hours, but I was wide awake.

1978，Richard Nixon，“The Presidency 1973-1974”, in RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon，Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL，頁 1085:


pooped

more pooped (comparative)
most pooped (superlative)

Well, I've walked 35 miles since yesterday to get here, so I'm pooped

2000，Jeff Alt，A Walk For Sunshine: A 2,160 Mile Expedition for Charity on the Appalachian Trail，頁 138:


lame-o

more lame-o (comparative)
most lame-o (superlative)


lameo

more lameo (comparative)
most lameo (superlative)

Television reruns are often lameo.


low on the totem pole

派生自totem pole，印第安人所做的图腾柱，这种柱子从下到上常刻有几个图案。上下顺序曾被非印第安人误认为是按地位的高低排列的。

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-low on the totem pole.ogg

低级的，较低贱的，地位较低的

Gaston said, however, that the boycott would not substantially affect Negroes because they are "so low on the totem pole."

1965, 7th of April, Washington Observer, King Defends Alabama Boycott, Answers Critics


goofball

He announced, with his usual goofball humor, that he'd like to marry me!

他开他那个傻傻的玩笑说要和我结婚。


chillaxing

more chillaxing (comparative)
most chillaxing (superlative)

But these chillaxing engineers, led by Zuckerberg, were the ones who could bring the site back up with a few hours of frantic coding, and everyone else, considered ‘duller, incapable of quick and intelligent thought’, was there to serve the thing they had created and, therefore, them.

2013，Joanna Biggs，“Tell me everything”, in London Review of Books，卷 35, 期 7:


stark naked

中古英語 stert naked（steort nakt, sternaked, star naked），前半部分源自古英語 steort (“尾巴”)。词形从“start-naked”变为“stark-naked”应该是因为该词被误解成了“starkly naked”一个变体。


anticlimactic

more anticlimactic (comparative)
most anticlimactic (superlative)

令人失望的，落差大的，虎头蛇尾的

After all the build up, the ending of the story was an anticlimactic letdown.

铺垫了那么多，结果故事的结尾令人失望透顶。


fine and dandy

more fine and dandy (comparative)
most fine and dandy (superlative)


marxisant

more marxisant (comparative)
most marxisant (superlative)

Certainly Bosher's approach differs significantly from that of a marxisant sociologist like George Comninel[…]

1993，Gwynne Lewis，The French Revolution: Rethinking the Debate，頁 111:


snooty

snootier (comparative)
snootiest (superlative)

好自夸的，高傲的，自命不凡的

He left out Town & Country, the magazine for snooty East Coast liberals.

ever since she landed the National gig sheʼs got very snooty about struggling theatre mates, as if she alone has discovered the secret to being successful

2019，Bernardine Evaristo，Girl, Woman, Other，Penguin Books (2020)，頁 43:

Sir Sydney was an arrogant, snooty, bigoted prig, so it was with some satisfaction that I wrote out his parking ticket.

Her parties were snooty affairs; custom-designed cocktail dresses that cost more than a decent luxury car were de rigueur.


lamentful

more lamentful (comparative)
most lamentful (superlative)


synergistical

more synergistical (comparative)
most synergistical (superlative)


flesh and blood

[Minnesota Senator Steve] Daines isn’t the only example of right-wing politicians who wish to wield anti-Semitism as a convenient cudgel against their political enemies, with scant if any evidence. But Montana’s vanishingly small Jewish population makes it particularly clear that this strategy has little to do with flesh-and-blood Jews at all.

[明尼苏达州参议员史蒂夫·]戴恩斯并不是唯一一个希望利用反犹太主义作为打击政敌的右翼政客的例子，但证据却很少。但蒙大拿州犹太人口极少，这一点特别清楚地表明，这一策略与实际上的犹太人根本没有关系。

2019年July17日，Talia Lavin，“When Non-Jews Wield Anti-Semitism as Political Shield”, in GQ:

含有血和肉的，含有身体组织的


unfuckwithable

more unfuckwithable (comparative)
most unfuckwithable (superlative)

Ideally they should just be clones of some client image downloaded from a server which is centrally managed and unfuckwithable thereafter.

1995年December4日，Gromit，“AlphaStations UNSECURE!!!!”, in comp.sys.dec (Usenet), retrieved 2023-03-25:

It can make you as close to unfuckwithable as any tough guy is likely to get.

2013，Adrian Van Young，The Man Who Noticed Everything:

I put on my wet suit, grabbed my surfboard, and went to battle the unmerciful Pacific Ocean — fierce by nature, unforgiving by force, and totally unfuckwithable in every way.

2015，Bill Kreutzmann，Benjy Eisen，Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead:


tremulous

源自拉丁語 tremulus，源自tremō (“抖动”)。与古希臘語 τρέμω (trémō)同源。

more tremulous (comparative)
most tremulous (superlative)

"Thank God!" he cried brokenly, all the pent emotion of the long night vibrant in his tremulous voice.

1919，William MacLeod Raine，章號 27, in A Man Four-Square:

Light filtered in through the blinds of the french windows. It made tremulous stripes along the scrubbed pine floor.

1956，Delano Ames，章號 12, in Crime out of Mind:

"You have lived here long?" Felix asked, with tremulous interest, as he took a seat.

1891，Grant Allen，章號 15, in The Great Taboo:

This, hard on the heels of the death of Julia Child in 2004, makes one tremulous about the future.

2009年October7日，Christopher Kimball，“Opinion: Gourmet to All That”, in New York Times, retrieved 2012-08-18:


to write home about

重要的，厉害的，值得一提的

‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’

1963，Margery Allingham，章號 15, in The China Governess:


cunny

more cunny (comparative)
most cunny (superlative)

Nevertheless, she was a "cunny Jamaican woman" who knew 'what side her bread was buttered on.'

2000，Donna Maxine Weir，Beyond Binaries: Creolized Forms of Resistance in African-American and Caribbean Literatures，頁 175:


translucid

源自拉丁語 translucidus，源自trans (“across, through”) + lucidus (“lucid”)。对比法語 translucide。See translucent。

more translucid (comparative)
most translucid (superlative)

The cause is , for that in anger the spirits ascend and wax eager ; which is most easily seen in the eyes , because they are translucid ; though withal it maketh both the cheeks and the gills red

1631，Francis [Bacon]，“9。Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […]，第3rd版, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

This insight, which expresses itself by what is called Imagination, is a very high sort of seeing, which does not come by study, but by the intellect being where and what it sees, by sharing the path, or circuit of things through forms, and so making them translucid to others.

Overcoming the gravity of representation and the figurative, automatism and acquired reflexes, she mixes brute force and translucid emotions to paint an ontological, disquieting, enigmatic human figure free from artifice, universal in its expression.


trepid

源自拉丁語 trepidus (“紧张的”)。

more trepid (comparative)
most trepid (superlative)

the trepid mouse


trepidatious

more trepidatious (comparative)
most trepidatious (superlative)

He looks a little trepidatious too, and we both laugh awkwardly as he nears me.

2020，Sophie Kinsella，Love Your Life，Dial Press, →ISBN:

Factor in Grammer’s outspoken Trumpism, which complicates the legacy of his defining role, and fans may be forgiven for feeling trepidatious.

2023年February27日，Elle Hunt，“‘Don’t make Frasier best friends with Elon Musk!’ Writers and comics offer their reboot tips”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


surveillant

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unpossible

源自中古英語 unpossible，等价于un- (“不”) + possible。

more unpossible (comparative)
most unpossible (superlative)

’Tis a hard matter therefore to confine them, being they are so various and many, unpossible to apprehend all.

1624，Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton]，The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]，第2nd版, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
, New York Review of Books, 2001, p.280:

In the evening we fired a few rackets, which flying in the ayre so terrified the poore Salvages, they supposed nothing unpossible we attempted […].

1624，John Smith，Generall Historie，Kupperman, 出版於 1988，頁 97:

[S]o prodigiously various are the works of the Creator, and so All-sufficient is he to perform what to man would seem unpossible […].

1665，Robert Hooke，Micrographia, section XXI:

Ralph Wiggum: Me fail English? That's unpossible!

I think we can all agree that this is unpossible.

2008，David Goldberg，“meeting with HKS”, in Mimecast:


weaselly

more weaselly (comparative)
weasellier (comparative)
most weaselly (superlative)
weaselliest (superlative)

The writer had just entered into his eighteenth year, when he met at the table of a certain Anglo-Germanist an individual, apparently somewhat under thirty, of middle stature, a thin and weaselly figure, a sallow complexion, a certain obliquity of vision, and a large pair of spectacles.

1857，George Borrow，The Romany Rye，第2nd版, London: John Murray, 出版於 1858, Volume 2, Appendix, Chapter 11, p. 359:

“Pretty?”
[…] Mr. Prestcott considered. “Fair to middling. Bit weaselly, if you know what I mean. Wouldn’t have been much without makeup. As it was, she managed to look quite attractive.”

1942，Agatha Christie，章號 6, in The Body in the Library，New York: Pocket Books, 出版於 1965，頁 54:

At three minutes past six the door opened to admit the naked, scrawny figure of Tingaling Bell. He had a sharp weasely face and a miserable body on which each bone showed.

1956，Ian Fleming，章號 13, in Diamonds Are Forever，London: Pan Books, 出版於 1958:

On still weasellier, greasier members of the clique.

1996，Will Self，The Sweet Smell of Psychosis，New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN:

I lifted the extension, slowly released the button, easing in mid-ring like the weaselliest weasel.

2009，Sean Beaudoin，Fade to Blue，New York, N.Y., Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, 出版於 2011, →ISBN:

He looks like a shorter, thinner, weasellier version of Tom Jones, and he sure knows how to work a crowd.

That was when the constantly complaining but unseen dog showed itself, if it was actually a dog. The weaselly little creature crawled out from under the couch—more rodential than canine, Pepe thought.

2015，John Irving，章號 1, in Avenue of Mysteries，Canada: Knopf:

More members arrive. […] Lucifer, small and fat and weasellier (e.g. more like a weasel) than ever, and a few other nonentities whose names Fricka can never remember.

2016，Ian Murray-Watson，A Stitch in Time，Matador, →ISBN，頁 20:

With intellect weaselly, artist has easily earned all his bacon and greens by it,

1864, W. S. Gilbert, “Sixty-Three and Sixty-Four” originally published in Fun, V (2 January 1864), p. 162, later published in Bab Ballads, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1970, p. 37,

“Ah was vara weaselly. Ah wasna going home without yon stoof for Captain Harker. Vara coonning ah was.”

1927，John Masefield，The Midnight Folk，London: Heinemann，頁 221:

Menemencioglu could see no good reason why this weasely document should not be interpreted so as to keep Turkey out of a war in which he and the other Turkish leaders were convinced she could do no better than be uselessly crushed […]

1947，William B. King, Frank O’Brien，章號 19, in The Balkans: Frontier of Two Worlds，New York: Knopf，頁 239:

“There’s a poem I like,” Harry said. “By Robert Graves. About cats. Cats, he says, make their point by walking round it. It’s all right for cats. For humans, as you say—weaselly. Why don’t they come out with it?”

1967，Richard Lockridge，章號 2, in With Option to Die，Philadelphia: Lippincott，頁 30:

It was one of the strangest elections I have ever witnessed, even odder than the 1988 presidential race, when two yahoos named George Bush and Michael Dukakis ended what Hunter S. Thompson declared “The Generation of Swine” by conducting the weaselliest, most vacuous, idealess campaign in the nation’s history.

1997年August31日，Jeff Cox，“Legacy of the yahoos”, in Standard-Speaker，Hazleton, Pa.，頁 C1:

Charles Lucas received the most weaselly rejection, the directors hoping they might be able to programme his symphony, but adding that they ‘would by no means wish to prevent his so doing elsewhere’.

2000，Simon McVeigh，“The Society of British Musicians (1834–1865) and the Campaign for Native Talent”, in Music and British Culture 1785–1914: Essays in Honour of Cyril Ehrlich，Oxford University Press, →ISBN，頁 147:

“Rat-faced. Never trust a reporter. They’re weasellier than rodents!”

2004，Jan Carr，The Elf of Union Square，G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →ISBN，頁 56:

So gas rustlers are the horse thieves of the 21st century. The weaselliest are the pump-and-run variety. They strike even in broad daylight. They fill ’er up, then skedaddle without paying.

2008年July17日，Mike Strobel，“Like Old West horse thieves: As gas prices rise, fuel rustlers are out there riding the range”, in The Kingston Whig-Standard，頁 5:

There’s a weaselly feel to the plan, a sense that tough decisions were postponed even as President Obama warns about our “perfect storm of financial problems.”

2009年February11日，Maureen Dowd，“Trillion Dollar Baby”, in New York Times:

If the prompting is necessary, email (or text) is arguably the worst, weaselliest possible way to do it.

2017年August23日，Carolyn Hax，“Man and daughter won’t make up”, in Appeal Tribune，卷 136, 期 36:


weasely

weaselier (comparative)
weaseliest (superlative)

"It's just, we decided even the slimiest and weaseliest of friends deserve second chances," said Lily.

2005，Lauren Mechling with Laura Moser, The Rise and Fall of a 10th-grade Social Climber，頁 289:


Chindian

more Chindian (comparative)
most Chindian (superlative)


pallier

pally 的比較級形式。


robed

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sunder

源自中古英語 sunder，源自古英語 sundor- (“不同的”)，源自原始日耳曼語 *sundraz (“分离的”)，源自原始印歐語 *snter-、*seni-、*senu-、*san- (“离；独自”)。同源词有古撒克遜語 sundar (“特别的”)、荷蘭語 zonder (“没有，不带”)、德語 sonder- (“特别的”)、德語 sondern (“分离”)、古諾爾斯語 sundr (“分离”)、丹麥語 sønder (“分开”)、拉丁語 sine (“没有，不带，无”)。

more sunder (comparative)
most sunder (superlative)


truant

源自中古英語 truant、truand、trewande、trowant（平行于中古荷蘭語 trouwant、trawant、truwant），源自古法語 truand、truant (“流浪汉，乞丐；乞丐一样的”)，源自凱爾特語族，可能源自高盧語 *trugan，或源自布列塔尼語 truan (“悲惨的”)，源自原始凱爾特語 *térh₁-tro-m，最终源自原始印歐語 *terh₁-。
同源词有蘇格蘭蓋爾語 truaghan、愛爾蘭語 trogha (“贫困的”)、trogán、布列塔尼語 truc (“乞丐”)、威爾士語 tru。

He didn't graduate because he was chronically truant and didn't have enough attendances to meet the requirement.

因为他习惯性地翘课导致出席时间达不到要求，所以他没能毕业。

旷工的；无所事事的，懒散的

While truant Jove, in infant pride, / Play'd barefoot on Olympus' side.

1772，John Trumbull，The Owl and the Sparrow，頁 149:

Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.[…]She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.

1910，Emerson Hough，章號 I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise，Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:


phony-baloney

more phony-baloney (comparative)
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phoney-baloney

more phoney-baloney (comparative)
most phoney-baloney (superlative)


blind as a bat

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-blind as a bat.ogg


schmancy

schmancier (comparative)
schmanciest (superlative)

But thanks to the charmless chunk of schmancy condos now going up on Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue (the Champs Élysées of auto parts stores), the rooftop sunsets we savored in summers past were, it turns out, our last.

2007年August10日，Lynn Harris，“On the Roof, a Weaning From Weeding”, in New York Times:


fancy-schmancy

more fancy-schmancy (comparative)
most fancy-schmancy (superlative)


nocive

源自拉丁語 nocīvus，派生自noceō (“伤害”)。

more nocive (comparative)
most nocive (superlative)


dressed to kill

She's a scented magazine/Looking sharp and living clean/Living well and dressed to kill/But she looks like hell to me

2000，Tré Cool （作曲作詞）, “Fashion Victim”, in Warning，演出者 Green day:

During the 1980s, its vivid streetlife became a symbol of the “consumer socialism” that distinguished Hungary from other Eastern Bloc states, but Budapesters today are rather less enamoured of Váci: dressed-to-kill babes and their sugar daddies would rather pose in malls, and teenagers can find McDonald's anywhere, leaving Váci utterly dependent on tourists for its livelihood and bustle.

2002，Charles Hebbert, Dan Richardson，The Rough Guide to Budapest，第2nd版, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN，頁 73:


mustachioed

The Greek stocks and fever were at their highest, when a cargo from Missolonghi of turbaned and mustachioed gentry arrived, and cast anchor in the river.

1831，L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon]，章號 XIV, in Romance and Reality. […]，卷 I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC，頁 137:

One of the intruders, a mustachioed bug-eyed man with unkempt long hair, looked over the woman and asked for money and jewelry.

1988，Jay Robert Nash，Murder among the rich and famous, →ISBN:

I noticed a short, well built man with cropped dark hair who wore a mustachioed goatee; I watched him as he stepped off the elevator.

2012，Thaddeus Deluca，At Bully Hills: Confessions of an American Oxycontin Addict, →ISBN，頁 219:

With a trembling hand, the mustachioed man opens the breast pocket of his uniform, takes out his I.D., and hands it over.

2012，Fr. Henryk Maria Malak，Shavelings in Death Camps, →ISBN:


tsundere

借自日語 ツンデレ (tsundere)，源自つんつん (tsun-tsun，“漠不关心地”，副词) + でれでれ (dere-dere，“含情脉脉地”，副词)。

more tsundere (comparative)
most tsundere (superlative)


heartwrenching

more heartwrenching (comparative)
most heartwrenching (superlative)

The interview with Sarah Mohess was both heartwrenching and inspiring.

2007年September23日，“In a Tough City, Almost an Adult; An Active Approach to Psychic Change (4 Letters)”, in New York Times:


iced-over

more iced-over (comparative)
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confrontational

more confrontational (comparative)
most confrontational (superlative)

/ˌkɒnfɹənˈteɪʃənˈəl/

对峙的；（尤指）咄咄逼人的，挑衅的

It was Liverpool who once again carried the momentum after the break and the recalled Rio Ferdinand was booked for a foul on Suarez, whose confrontational approach and brilliant natural ability was proving hard to handle.

2011年October15日，Phil McNulty，“Liverpool 1 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:


none the wiser

never the wiser

（对某事物）没能了解的，没能知道的

（对某事物）没能了解的，没能知道的

They were none the wiser from their experience

他们从经验里什么都没学到。

After the lecture, nobody was any the wiser on the subject.

讲座后，大家对那个主题还是一头雾水。

He's very careful, so his victims are none the wiser.

他行事谨慎，他的受害者都没有察觉到。


all-encompassing

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mangled

more mangled (comparative)
most mangled (superlative)


sardonic

源自法語 sardonique，源自拉丁語 sardonius，源自古希臘語 σαρδόνιος (sardónios)，σαρδάνιος (sardánios，“尖酸刻薄的笑”)的变体，被认为源自撒丁岛的一种植物（撒丁岛毛茛（Ranunculus sardous）或者藏红花色水芹（Oenanthe crocata）），作σαρδάνη (sardánē)或σαρδόνιον (sardónion)。据称食用这种植物会导致人的面部扭曲成像蔑视的表情（之后通常会死亡）。可能还与σαίρω (saírō，“露齿笑”)有关。

more sardonic (comparative)
most sardonic (superlative)

He distances himself from people with his nasty, sardonic laughter.

他的笑讨厌而轻蔑，让大家都疏远他了。

[Q]Uivering fears, Heart-tearing cares, / Anxious ſighs, Untimely tears, / Fly, fly to the Courts; / Fly to fond worldings ſports, / Where ſtrain’d Sardonick ſmiles are cloſing ſtill, / And grief is forc’d to laugh againſt her will; / Where mirth’s but mummery, / And ſorrows only real be.

1685，Henry Wotton，“[A Deſcription of the Countrys Recreations.] Poems Found among the Papers of Sir Henry Wotton”, in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ, or, A collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; […] ，第Fourth版, London: […] B[enjamin] Tooke, […] and T[homas] Sawbridge […] , →OCLC，頁s 390–391:

Another manifestation, significantly reaching its apogee in the midst of Antonine virtues, was the growing popularity of adoxographical exercises. Mock panegyrics were dashed off, not just by sardonic intellectuals such as Lucian, but also by trained courtiers and polished encomiasts of the stamp of [Marcus Cornelius] Fronto.

1979，Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History [Collection Latomus; 164]，卷 1, Brussels: Latomus, →OCLC，頁 111:


cluttered

more cluttered (comparative)
most cluttered (superlative)


dimwitted

My memories of high school and college French are mostly negative because I usually felt dimwitted anytime I tried to speak.

2010年December19日，Terry Gardner，“The Gift of Foreign-language Learning”, in The Chicago Tribune, retrieved 2013-04-17:


undulating

more undulating (comparative)
most undulating (superlative)

上下晃动的，起伏的，波浪一样的

The Borinage coalfield around Mons is another attractive area for the railway enthusiast; it is rather like South Lancashire, with its gently undulating landscape studded with slag heaps and pithead gear and criss-crossed by railway lines and tramways.

1960 February，J. N. Faulkner，“The Belgian Railways today”, in Trains Illustrated，頁 86:


smooth-talking

more smooth-talking (comparative)
most smooth-talking (superlative)

By the time the campaign was finished, you never saw a quicker, more smooth-talking political animal than Afram Milovan.

1988，Owen Sela，The KGB Candidate, →ISBN，頁 261:

Children are an increasingly attractive target for ID thieves, in part because they're easy prey for smooth-talking predators in chat rooms, and because the crime can go undetected for years.

2005，Dan Tynan，Computer Privacy Annoyances, →ISBN:

In another case, a young woman, a smooth-talking, parasitic psychopath, constantly complained to her friends that her parents were not contributing enough to her already lavish lifestyle.

2011，Robert D. Hare，Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us, →ISBN:

At twenty-one, it was easy for strippers to fall for smooth-talking, married customers.


titubant

源自法語 titubant，tituber 的現在分詞，源自拉丁語 titubāre (“蹣跚”)，titubō 的現在主動不定式。

more titubant (comparative)
most titubant (superlative)

To these, by the door L. C., the CURATE and the NOTARY, arm in arm; the latter owl-like and titubant

1896，Robert Louis Stevenson，Macaire, act i, scene 2 (stage directions):

His walk had become titubant.

1928，Acta Psychiatrica et Neurologica，卷 3，頁 65:

her feet showed the typical Friedreich's deformity; her speech was drawling and monotonous; her gait was staggering and titubant

1948，Karl Pearson，Treasury of Human Inheritance: Nervous Diseases and Muscular Dystrophies，頁 253:


penny-pinching

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most penny-pinching (superlative)

If there is an overall lesson, it is that train quality should be seen as part of the battle against climate change, with penny-pinching specifications robustly opposed as a false economy.

2021年July14日，Anthony Lambert，“Grand designs on superior interiors”, in SAIL，期 935，頁 49:


bricked up

* (俚语义项)根据Know Your Meme，由美国的说唱歌手杰克·哈洛造出，出自其在2020年一次与Genius的采访中。见引文。

more bricked up (comparative)
most bricked up (superlative)

Man, this girl got me bricked up.

The female reindeer from the Rudolph claymation series? When I was in preschool, I used to be bricked up watching that shit.

2020年February11日，“Jack Harlow "WHATS POPPIN" Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified”, in YouTube，上传者：Genius, 说话人：Jack Harlow:

Remember when we would see her on the screen and get bricked up instantly?!?? Hahaha we were some crazy kids!!!

bell pepper (bricked up)

if i was a guy I'd be bricked up 24/7

the guy at the tattoo place when i was getting my knuckle tats said i had tiny delicate fingers and i got bricked up


doggoned

doggone的另一種寫法。

I could see the bridge was lined with bears
But I didn't have a doggoned dime.

1975，“Convoy”, in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis 作詞, Black Bear Road，演出者 C. W. McCall:


in cahoots

与...私下串通的，与...共谋的


saggy

saggier (comparative)
saggiest (superlative)

saggy boobs

saggy skin


ridonkulous

more ridonkulous (comparative)
most ridonkulous (superlative)

/ɹɪˈdɒŋkjʊləs/

I just finished a well-conceived brainstorm that concluded this thread is ridonkulous only if you continue to read.

2000年December18日，Mike Drain，“Re: Smoking pot and watching dvd movies”, in alt.video.dvd (Usenet):

Drimmer's hat looks ridonkulous ($1,000).

2001年October19日，“Smack Zone”, in Yale Herald:

Who needed Tyler's ridonkulous scooter and his smelly old T-shirts from Hot Topic and that weird habit he had of scratching his ear 'til it bled?


down for the count

指的是拳击比赛时，选手倒地后裁判数到10之前不能起身的判定为输的规则。

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-down for the count.ogg

“But what puts me down for the count is the action of the fellow. Never showed up; just made her miss two performances.”

1912，Harold MacGrath，章號 7, in The Place of Honeymoons:

But every time the music world thought it was down for the count, the orchestra has managed to rise again.

1991年November4日，Allan Kozinn，“Despite Odds, Many of Them, A Bedeviled Orchestra Persists”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

So, while Europe is still groggy and the U.S. is just starting to show signs of a pulse (and Japan of course is still down for the count), little Korea will grow anywhere from 3.2% to 6% this year.

2002年March11日，“Veni, Vidi, Gucci”, in Time，存檔自the original on 2013-05-11:


out like a light

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-out like a light.ogg

Once she received anesthesia, she was out like a light.

她被麻醉以后立刻不省人事。


up someone's street

符合某人的，适合某人的，某人感兴趣的

This new album should be just up your street.


mortified

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delish

more delish (comparative)
most delish (superlative)

Tom Aikens is the name of the notorious kitchen firebrand who runs this wonderful modern European restaurant where the setting is handsome and the food delish.

"Ummm. Sounds delish." I don't know what to say; this is what comes out. "Yes, delish."

2000，Kathryn Glasgow Stern，Another Song about the King: A Novel，頁 262:

Delish! I tried some crackers loaded with cheese and pâté. Double delish!

1997，James Grippando，The Informant，頁 239:

Not that I want to rush you, but that'd be simply delish!

1956，Julian Maclaren-Ross，The Funny Bone，頁 36:


high and dry

搁浅的；停泊于干船坞中的

与高教会有联系的 （福音派教会用low and slow，广派教会用broad and shallow）

"There are two recognized parties in the church of England, the old High-and-dry church party, and the so-called Evangelical. To one or other of these two the Anglo-Catholic must conform."

1844，A. H. Maltby，The New Englander，卷 2，頁 321:


swingeing

swinge + -ing。swinge派生自中古英語 swengen (“击打”)，源自古英語 swengan (“冲击；使...动摇”)。

more swingeing (comparative)
most swingeing (superlative)

/ˈswɪnd͡ʒɪŋ/

/ˈswɪnd͡ʒɪŋ/

And when Occaſion did require, / In midſt of Houſe a mighty Fire, / Of black dry'd Earth and ſwingeing Blocks / Was made, enough to roaſt an Ox; […]

1716，W[illiam] M[offat]，Hesperi-neso-graphia: Or, A Description of the Western Isle. In Eight Canto’s，第4th版, London: Printed and sold by J. Baker, at the Black-Boy in Pater-Noster-Row, →OCLC, canto II，頁 7:

"Let him pursue his own course," said Diggs, taking up a pen, and making some hasty memoranda on a sheet of paper. "We shall have swingeing damages—swingeing damages."

1855，William Harrison Ainsworth，“Abel’s Interview with the Miser—Unexpected Appearance of Randulph and Cordwell Firebras—Result of the Meeting”, in The Miser’s Daughter: A Tale，London, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] Routledge & Co., Farringdon Street; New York, 18, Beekman Street, →OCLC，頁 123:

A shock for passengers by the Dover-Dunkerque "Night Ferry" is the swingeing increases in berth rates for those who are not travelling in the sleeping cars.

1962 December，“Beyond the Channel: European timetables: The winter train services”, in Modern Railways，頁 413:

Every day produces more evidence that this hard Tory Brexit is a disaster in the making. Carmakers and other export manufacturers, fearing swingeing tariffs, are demanding special protections and exemptions or else they leave.

2017年March27日，“The Observer view on triggering article 50: As Britain hurtles towards the precipice, truth and democracy are in short supply”, in The Observer，London，存檔自the original on 2017-05-17:

After petrol rationing ended in 1952, the BTC was aware that more swingeing cuts had to be made, and a sinister message was conveyed by the loss of the meandering 38-mile route from Blisworth to Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1952, and the 25-mile Abergavenny-Merthyr Heads of the Valleys line in January 1958.

2023年March8日，Howard Johnston，“Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL，期 978，頁 51:

a swingeing verbal attack

Steven's cold blood was now heated, and springing from the ground, he rushed forward utterly regardless of science, and with his head down, protected by his bended arm, he closed with a swingeing right-handed hit that unfortunately caught Ned upon the ear, and sent him reeling, and for the instant half stunned, upon one side.

1869，Samuel W[hite] Baker，章號 IV, in Cast Up by the Sea，London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC，頁s 80–81:

With the publication of Drunk Man [A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle (1926)] [Hugh] MacDiarmid revealed that he had developed from an accomplished and sometimes brilliant miniaturist into a major poet. The poem represents the high-water mark of his work in Scots and probably of his writing as a whole. Maturity of utterance and sophistication of expression combine in a swingeing, energetic exploration of his situation which he never surpassed.

1987，John Baglow，“Uncouth Dilemmas”, in Hugh MacDiarmid: The Poetry of Self，Kingston, Ont., Montreal, Que.: McGill-Queen's University Press, →ISBN，頁 64:

Perhaps not since the felling of America's vast forests in the 19th century, […] has the world seen such a spectacular environmental change. The consequences for Arctic ecosystems will be swingeing.

2012年June16日，James Astill，“Special Report: The Melting North”, in The Economist，存檔自the original on 2017-01-20，頁 4:

Switzerland, a bastion of neutrality through two world wars, has decided to adopt wholesale swingeing EU sanctions against the Russian central bank, freezing as much as billions of dollars in assets and massively increasing the pressure on the Russian economy.

2022年February28日，Patrick Wintour，the Guardian，Guardian Media Group, retrieved 2022-02-28:


walk-in

walk in 的動詞派生詞。

能够徒步进入的 可不预约直接进入的

On multiple occasions, beginning when she was 12, Sara went to her local GP and to walk-in clinics wearing her hijab to get the morning-after pill.

2014年August29日，Ruzwana Bashir，“The untold story of how a culture of shame perpetuates abuse. I know, I was a victim”, in The Guardian:

能够徒步进入的 可徒步进入的

Aspen is a walk-in tent campground with sites tucked in among the pine

2007，Fred Dow, Suzanne Dow，U. S. National Forest Campground Guide:

能够徒步进入的 能容纳人走进去的

Our roomy superior category double looked out onto the open wraparound promenade through one-way glass that reversed its view at night. The closet was walk-in, and the bath had a full tub. The TV brought in both the BBC and Euronews, ...

The closet was walk-in, but all the clothes had been shoved to one side over a low dresser. The other side was consumed by shelves spanning from floor to ceiling. Arranged on the shelves were boxes of every shape and size neatly labeled ...

2011，Paradise Avenger，The Breaking of Poisonwood，Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN，頁 80:

My closet was walk-in with plenty of hanging space and drawers, but most of my clothes ended up on the floor anyway.

2017，K M Randall，Blue Sun，AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

能够徒步进入的 （不需要经过横档等）能直接进入的

a walk-in bathtub

“The shower is walk in, multiple showerheads and a tiled bench. Take your time, I installed one of those perpetual hot water heaters, so you can have an endless experience. If you're not out in an hour, I'll call 911.”

2016，Douglas E Roff, Jacob A Roff，Cryptid: Discovery，BookBaby, →ISBN:

Eighteen-inch ceramic tiles, laid diagonally, made the home seem bigger. Opposite the kitchen was the bedroom wing with a master suite plus two other bedrooms, each having its own bath. All the showers were walk-in.

2018，Forrest Steele，Never Again, Seriously，Archway Publishing, →ISBN:

… (locations, that are vulnerable to walk-in robbery), which makes isolation of the value from UCR statistics impossible.

1976, Warner A. Eliot, John R. Strack, Alice E. Witter, National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. National Evaluation Program, Mitre Corporation, Early-warning robbery reduction projects: an assessment of performance, section II, § A, page 6:

[...], not least because the offence can vary from a quick walk-in theft to planned and targeted plundering.

2010，Andrew Ashworth，Sentencing and Criminal Justice，Cambridge University Press, →ISBN，頁 137:


ad nauseam

非同化借詞，源自拉丁語 ad nauseam，源自ad (“到”) + nauseam (“晕船，恶心”)，nausea的宾格。

The Feelings album flew off the shelves, and Albert became a pop sensation—until, thanks to airplay ad nauseam, radio listeners grew weary of his sentiments.

1990，Wayne Jancik，The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN，頁 325:


antiquated

more antiquated (comparative)
most antiquated (superlative)

一般指抽象概念（比如思想、学说、信条、观点、方式、用词等），但也可以指实物，比如门或者地图等。

Coming to the third proposition, von Hertling says, with justice, that the doctrine of the balance of power is a more or less antiquated doctrine.

1918，Arthur Balfour，Response to Woodrow Wilsons Speech of 11 February 1918:

A root-and-branch reform of our antiquated passenger fares system is urgently needed if the rail industry is to fill the £2 billion annual black hole in its finances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022年November16日，Howard Johnston，“Network News: Haines: fares reform essential to reclaim lost revenue”, in RAIL，期 970，頁 20:


forlorner

forlorn 的比較級形式。


forlornest

forlorn的最高級形式。


faint of heart

more faint of heart (comparative)
most faint of heart (superlative)


sound asleep

When Frere had come down, an hour before, the prisoners were all snugly between their blankets. They were not so now; though, at the first clink of the bolts, they would be back again in their old positions, to all appearances sound asleep.

1874，Marcus Clarke，章號 V, in For the Term of His Natural Life:


mangy

mangier (comparative)
mangiest (superlative)

感染兽疥癣的；好似长满兽疥癣的

We stayed in a really mangy hotel in New York.

我们住在了纽约的一个破烂酒店。

Specter Knight: 'YOUR QUEST TO BECOME KING OF CARDS HAS NOT... GONE UNNOTICED.' / King Knight: 'AH, WORD HAS REACHED THE SLUMS, HAS IT? AM I TO TRAVEL WITH AN ENTOURAGE OF MANGY BEGGARS, NOW?'

2019年December10日，Yacht Club Games，Shovel Knight: King of Cards, Nintendo 3DS，關卡/區域：Spectral Ravine:


quickwitted

more quickwitted (comparative)
most quickwitted (superlative)

She was far too quick-witted to miss the implications of what he was saying.

机敏的她没有错过他话里的意思。


soppy

soppier (comparative)
soppiest (superlative)

Yarmouth […] looked rather spongy and soppy, I thought, as I carried my eye over the great dull waste that lay across the river; and I could not help wondering, if the world were really as round as my geography book said, how any part of it came to be so flat.

1849 May – 1850 November，Charles Dickens，The Personal History of David Copperfield，London: Bradbury & Evans, […], 出版於 1850, →OCLC:

'Goodness me!' said I to myself, 'whatever will become of sister's white satin shoes, if she has to walk about on soppy grass after such rain as this?'

1865，Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell，Wives and Daughters, Chapter I:

"[…] It's unfortunate, if I happen to look like what pleased some soppy old Greek sculptor, but I assure you that if it weren't for my face I'd be a quiet nun in the convent without"—then she broke into a run and her raised voice floated back to him as he followed—"my precious babies, which I must go back and see."

1920，F. Scott Fitzgerald，章號 4, in This Side of Paradise，卷 1:


fair and square

It was a fair and square deal. We won. And we won in the Senate. And it's in the bill. And I didn't think we could beat them, but we did.

1995，Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States，頁 1436:


mean-spirited

more mean-spirited (comparative)
most mean-spirited (superlative)

狭隘的，小心眼的；心怀不轨的

My old acquaintances would sneer at me as a mean-spirited cur, whose best exploit was to get in jail.

1877，Edward Payson Roe，章號 15, in A Knight Of The Nineteenth Century:


all bark and no bite

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-all bark and no bite.ogg

光说不做的，雷声大雨点小的，光说不练的


off-the-books

off the books的另一種拼寫法 （仅前接于名词）


down bad

Walter was down bad after his wife had left him.

Walter的妻子离开他以后，他难过不已。

He was down bad over that disrespectful girl.

他喜欢上了那个没礼貌的女孩。


doozy

不详。可能源自daisy (“雏菊”)或意大利女演员Eleonora Duse（埃莱奥诺拉·杜斯）之名。常有说法错误地称其源自汽车公司Duesenberg，但该词出现比这一公司成立早十多年。另可能源自波蘭語 duży，于20世纪00年代左右由波兰移民潮引入美国。(這個詞源⁽⁺⁾能找到來源嗎？)

doozier (comparative)
dooziest (superlative)

厉害的，很好的，牛屄的 （1903）

As soon as the races were billed he began to evolve Schemes — one Doozy scheme followed the other...

1903，Alfred Leon Kleberg，Slang Fables from Afar，頁 83:

The hydra wasn't the doozy? How could it not be the doozy? What could be doozier than that?

2011，“Feeling Pinkie Keen”, in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic:

花哨的，俗艳的 （1911）

Who was that doozy fellow I saw you with?

1917，Elsie Warnock，“Terms of approbation and eulogy in American dialect speech”, in Dialect Notes，卷 IV，頁 21:

Sweetie, do let me show you the dooziest little afternoon frock that Poiret designed for me in Paris.

1920，Jane Barrett，“English review”, in High School Life，卷 21，頁 531:


preppy

preppier (comparative)
more preppy (comparative)
preppiest (superlative)
most preppy (superlative)

posh

预科学校的 （比如服装方面）

预科学校的 （比如服装方面）

I'll pick you up after the party. Let's see, there'll be all that deep preppy conversation, preppy dancing, piles of preppy fun. Party starts at nine, I'll pick you up at nine fifteen.

1983，Alan Eisenstock, Larry Mintz，High School U.S.A. (motion picture), spoken by Jay-Jay Manners (Michael J. Fox):

So, Jam, who did your wardrobe, Tad the preppie sailboat captain?

1999，Carl V. Dupré，Detroit Rock City (motion picture), spoken by Trip (James DeBello):


ditopic

分子两端（两侧）可以配位的


soigne

soigné的另一種拼寫法


antitrust

The regulators used antitrust laws to block the merger, believing it would eliminate competition.

监管机构用反垄断法阻止了收购案，认为这样会阻碍市场竞争。

If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets, […]. Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast’s status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.

2014年March15日，“Turn it off”, in The Economist，卷 410, 期 8878:


pro hac vice

基本上只用于指仅临时批准某个律师参与某次开庭。

仅限此开庭中的，仅限此诉讼中的


adorant

more adorant (comparative)
most adorant (superlative)


mitigant

源自拉丁語 mitigans，mītigō 的現在主動分詞。參見 mitigate。

more mitigant (comparative)
most mitigant (superlative)


deflagrant

more deflagrant (comparative)
most deflagrant (superlative)

Gunpowder is a deflagrant (ie rapidly-burning) mixture of a solid fuel such as charcoal with a solid oxidising agent - the only one available up to the late 18th century was saltpetre.

2003，Allan M. Williams，The Knight and the Blast Furnace:


shakedown

shake down 的動詞派生詞。以前曾有将稻草摇下来做简易临时床铺的方法。


polydisperse

more polydisperse (comparative)
most polydisperse (superlative)

nonuniform (“由不同莫耳質量的大分子組成的”)之同義詞


parasocial

one-sided

单方面的，一厢情愿的； 准社会的 （尤其指代名人和他们的观众或粉丝之间的关系）

单方面的，一厢情愿的； 准社会的 （尤其指代名人和他们的观众或粉丝之间的关系）

a parasocial relationship

Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl coined the term parasocial interaction in 1956 to describe the imaginary interactions between the audience and TV variety show hosts, noting the “seeming face-to-face relationship” that viewers developed […]

[2006，Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media，SAGE Publications, →ISBN:

In the past, parasocial relationships occurred predominantly with television or film celebrities, but now these […] celebrities openly share their opinions and activities through various social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.

2016，Molly Marshall，AQA Psychology Student Guide 3: Issues and debates in psychology，Hachette UK, →ISBN:

And yet for every creator for whom parasocial relationships are an unintended byproduct of their work, there are many more – influencers, YouTubers, vloggers – who actively cultivate that faux-intimacy with their followers, softening them up so that they might more easily ply their wares, be that waist trainers or make-up brushes.

2022年February13日，Otegha Uwagba，“Too close for comfort: the pitfalls of parasocial relationships”, in The Guardian:

With the advent of AI chatbots, the ethics of parasocial relationships just keep getting murkier. Introducing: CarynAI, a voice-based chatbot that was trained to mimic a human influencer to become your artificial girlfriend.

2023年May11日，Maggie Harrison，“Influencer Creates AI Version of Herself That You Can Rent as a Girlfriend”, in Futurism:


soggy

soggier (comparative)
soggiest (superlative)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-soggy.wav

"Although we ended up soaked, the feeling of what we achieved and the calories we burned more than made up for soggy hair and clothes. [...]."

2020年November18日，“Stop & Examine”, in Rail，頁 71:


snappy

snappier (comparative)
snappiest (superlative)

a snappy response

Make it snappy!

You're snappy this morning; did you not sleep well?

你今早心情好差，是不是没睡好？

Here he is, looking snappy in his brand-new suit.

他来了，穿着新西装打扮得很时髦。

The niftiest, snappiest slacks you ever saw!

1933，Stella Blum，Everyday Fashion of the Thirties as pictured in Sears Catalogs，出版於 1986，頁 56:

snappy weather; snappy pace; snappy rejoinder

The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:[…]。

1897年 12月（標示為1898年），Winston Churchill，章號 8, in The Celebrity: An Episode，紐約: The Macmillan Company；倫敦：Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

a snappy dog

These spring-loaded seats are a bit harder and very snappy when you get off them.

2023年April19日，Pip Dunn，“Jack of all trades... and master of most”, in RAIL，期 981，頁 56:

a snappy motto


no holds barred

a no holds barred match

a no holds barred debating style that quickly transformed into cheap shots and bickering

There isn’t much reason to be optimistic about thoughtful dialogue in this general election. Both sides are girded for a negative, no-holds-barred slugfest.

2016年May8日，Albert R. Hunt，“Trump and Clinton Campaigns Gear Up for a Slugfest”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Among them was Ryan Ferchaud, 37, a tourist from Memphis who mostly faulted groups of college students for what she said was their no-holds-barred attitude regarding the mayhem.

2021年March22日，Neil Vigdor, Michael Majchrowicz, Azi Paybarah，“Miami Beach, Overwhelmed by Spring Break, Extends Emergency Curfew”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

“But the Russian doctrine of mass firing and no holds barred was visible in Chechnya, and there is the potential that Russia will get its act together tactically, and that will result in mass fire against population centers.”

2022年February28日，Steven Erlanger，引 Douglas Lute, “After a Fumbled Start, Russian Forces Hit Harder in Ukraine”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


green with envy

嫉妒得不得了的，嫉妒得表现出来的，眼红的


David-and-Goliath

源自《圣经》中关于大卫王的故事。

The “Axanar” case has sparked considerable controversy within the “Star Trek” fan community, with some championing the film as a David-and-Goliath battle for creative freedom and others sharply criticizing the film’s creators for overstepping their bounds and threatening the entire world of fan films.

2016，Josh Rottenberg，“CBS and Paramount Pictures announce new guidelines on 'Star Trek' fan films”, in Los Angeles Times:


well versed

better versed (comparative)
best versed (superlative)

versed的强调形式：造诣很深的


quick on the uptake

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/En-au-quick on the uptake.ogg

quick-witted

理解快的，脑子灵的，聪明的

slow on the uptake

理解快的，脑子灵的，聪明的

slow-witted

理解快的，脑子灵的，聪明的

理解快的，脑子灵的，聪明的


scruffy

scruffier (comparative)
scruffiest (superlative)

A scruffy little dog came scampering down the road.

一条脏脏的小狗在路上跳来跳去。

scruffy clothes

scruffy man

scruffy outfit

"So you wanna be a rock 'n roll star?!" screams the centerspread of a scruffy rag produced by the Boston activist group Rock Against Sexism (R.A.S.) Amid a jumbled collage picturing shaggy-headed, bare-chested, "fuckin' awesome" white guy rockers, photo captions tell us how to succeed at rock 'n roll.

1987年December13日，Elizabeth Pincus，“Rock Against Sexism”, in Gay Community News，卷 15, 號 22，頁 16:


salacious

more salacious (comparative)
most salacious (superlative)


botted

more botted (comparative)
most botted (superlative)

人机似的 （都是新手的）

a botted lobby


teeny

变换自tiny （1825年），可能为了让其听起来有儿语等的感觉

teenier (comparative)
teeniest (superlative)


ham-fisted

源自ham (“火腿”) + fisted (形容词)，可能是比喻人的手部不是手，而像火腿一样笨拙。

more ham-fisted (comparative)
most ham-fisted (superlative)

cack-handed

笨拙的，不熟练的，笨手笨脚的

ham-handed

笨拙的，不熟练的，笨手笨脚的

heavy-handed

笨拙的，不熟练的，笨手笨脚的

mutton-fisted

笨拙的，不熟练的，笨手笨脚的

undexterous

笨拙的，不熟练的，笨手笨脚的

dexterous

笨拙的，不熟练的，笨手笨脚的

skilful

笨拙的，不熟练的，笨手笨脚的

笨拙的，不熟练的，笨手笨脚的

[Stephen] Harper has a few weeks' grace, during which he and his ham-fisted finance minister, Jim Flaherty, can ponder the error of their ways.

2008年December5日，“Everyone benefits from prorogue”, in The Sun Times，卷 156, 期 285, Owen Sound, Ont.: Osprey Media Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC，頁 A4，列 1:

In 1973, Sonia Orwell broke David Bowie's heart by refusing him permission to adapt her late husband [George Orwell]'s final novel into a rock musical. She had rebuffed every request since the hamfisted 1956 movie version starring Edmond O'Brien, and was never likely to make an exception for a glam-rock dandy, but he was sorely aggrieved.

2019年November13日，Dorian Lynskey，“Bowie’s Books and Why Bowie Matters review – a manic turnover of new ideas”, in 衛報，倫敦: 衛報媒體集團, →ISSN, →OCLC，存檔自the original on 2023-07-16:

What an utter farce. Just like DfT [the Department for Transport]'s ham-fisted, blundering ticket office closure programme.

2023年September6日，Nigel Harris，“Comment: Leaderless and Rudderless”, in Rail，期 991, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC，頁 3:


knocked up

My name is Wendy and I first moved to New York when I was 21 to be a dancer, but I broke my big toe and then I got knocked up by this actor who dumped me to join the Peace Corps, so for the last 16 years I been raising my daughter all by myself and then two weeks ago, she tells me that she is a bisexual and that she hates me more than any person on this planet.

2000，Gina Wendkos，Coyote Ugly (motion picture), spoken by Wendy (Ellen Cleghorne):

I ask him why she doesn't get on methadone while she's knocked up. He says because she not only uses heroin but she's a crystal meth head and a crack head to boot. She got knocked up by a John she picked up one night hooking.

2011，Anna Young，I Hate Myself and Want to Die，Trafford Publishing, →ISBN，頁 179:

I walked about the streets where the best shops for ladies were, I haunted the Bazaar like an unquiet spirit, I fagged through the Park again and again, long after I was quite knocked up.

1849 May – 1850 November，Charles Dickens，The Personal History of David Copperfield，London: Bradbury & Evans, […], 出版於 1850, →OCLC:


pudique

more pudique (comparative)
most pudique (superlative)


hoist by one's own petard

源自莎士比亚所著戏剧《哈姆雷特》。

/hˈɔ͡ɪst bˈa͡ɪ wˈʌnz ˈo͡ʊn pɛˈɾɑː͡ɹd/

/hˈɔ͡ɪst bˈa͡ɪ wˈɒnz ˈə͡ʊn pɛˈtɑːd/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/en-au-hoist by one's own petard.ogg

在美式英语中，这个形容词的第一个词作hoisted和hoist的频率基本相同，但是hoist作为动词单独使用时，其过去分词和过去式作hoisted的频率比hoist高约15倍。在英式英语中也类似，作过去式和过去分词时hoisted要远比hoist更常用，但是在这个俗语中，两种形式一样常见。写作时，在作者认为这个是发生到某人身上的一件事时常用hoisted，而表示一个状态时倾向于用hoist（对比“She's been hoisted by...” / “Now she's hoist by...”）。

He has no one to blame but himself; he was hoisted by his own petard.

他怪不了别人，根本就是自作自受。

Unhappily, the country as well as Mr. Marples has been hoist by the Minister's petard. (Mr. Marples was the Minister concerned)

1963 June，“Second thoughts on Beeching”, in Modern Railways，頁 362:

The danger with Trump would seem to be that, like Berlusconi, he would be hoist by his own petard, self-destructing precisely through the agent of his rise, and dragging the rest of us with him.

2015年August27日，Michael Signer，“What Happens When Donald Trump Stirs Up 'Passionate' Supporters”, in The Atlantic:

At last, the opposition spoke with one voice, and Boris Johnson was hoist by his own petard. It’s hard to see how he gets out of it.

2019年September4日，Jon Henley，“'Fighting for survival': European papers maul Johnson after defeat”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


brick and mortar

实体的，线下的 （一般用来与网上平台做对比） （自20世纪90年代中期）

Brick and mortar retail stores face online competition.

实体零售店面临网购的竞争。

E-commerce is not the kiss of death for big, traditional brick-and-mortar business.
对于大型传统实体企业来说，电子商务并不至于致命。

2000, Judy Kong, in a report on the ICE Conference, "Non Traditional Clicks and Mortar Businesses: (Dinosaurs) Learn to Fly":


mobbed-up

more mobbed-up (comparative)
most mobbed-up (superlative)

In this way, cartels of mobbed-up outfits drove everyone else out of the business. The impact of organized crime on the union movement was ruinous.

2006，Guy Lawson, William Oldham，The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia:

The following morning a little detective work led me to Spiro's, a mobbed-up social club on Eighteenth Avenue that was Frankie Carbone's hangout.

2005，Lou Eppolito, Bob Drury，Mafia Cop，頁 218:


raw-boned

more raw-boned (comparative)
most raw-boned (superlative)

A young nurse, a big raw-boned country lass, plodder her way down to the building.

1994，Jim Ranie，Jargodin: The Moonlighter，Brisbane: Jim Ranie，頁 194:


skint

“身无分文”一意在1925年起可考，其派生自skinned的一个变体。

skinter (comparative)
more skint (comparative)
skintest (superlative)
most skint (superlative)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-skint.wav

身无分文的，没钱的，穷的

There were a mixture of local people with cold, pinched faces and skint and harassed looking tourists sitting around fondling their itchsome facial hair, their tongues lolling into fizzy yellow pints of lager.

2000，Tim Bradford，Is Shane MacGowan still alive?:


amphidynamic

more amphidynamic (comparative)
most amphidynamic (superlative)

分子体系中同时包含静态和动态组分的