| 释义 |
unˈgrateful, a.
[un-1 7 and 5 b.]
1. Not feeling or displaying gratitude.
1553Brende Q. Curtius x. 216 The Macedons..confessyng them selues bothe wicked and vngrateful for depriuynge him of anye name wherof he was worthye. 1587Mirr. for Mag., Albanact lxii, If you ungratefull mindes doe beare, What meaneth death to let mee linger here. 1621in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) I. 354 Such base ungratfull slaves they bee. 1697Dryden æneis iv. 529 All, symptoms of a base ungrateful mind, So foul, that which is worse, 'tis hard to find. 1740Richardson Pamela II. 356 If it was, I must be the ungratefullest Person in the World, because I am the most obliged Person in it. 1813Scott Rokeby iv. xx, Ungrateful to God's clemency, That spared me penitential time. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 206 That I am ungrateful I wholly deny.
absol.1675Dryden Aurengz. iv. (1676) 64 Th' ungrateful does a more ungrateful find. 1690The Great Scanderbeg 82 The Ungrateful despises my flame with a cruel obstinacy. 1829Lytton Devereux i. i, He could not persuade his lips to repeat a sarcasm hurting even the dead or the ungrateful.
spec.1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Ungrateful man, a parson, who at least once a week abuses his best benefactor, i.e. the devil.
b. Of actions, etc.: Displaying lack of gratitude.
a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. iv, By ungratefull scorning the ornaments of Nature, am I now piping in a shadow? 1641Prynne Antipathie 9 O perfidious, ungratefull Councell and swasion of this Prelate. 1700Prior Carm. Sec. xxxv, Nor let the Muses, with ungrateful Pride, The Sources of their Treasure hide. 1799Med. Jrnl. I. 220 Asserting, that contemporary writers received his works with an ungrateful silence. 1825Scott Betrothed xix, These sentiments..I have combated..as being..ungrateful to you.
c. transf. Of soil, trees, etc.: Not responding to cultivation.
1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 12 A soil ungrateful to the Tiller's care. 1732Pope Ess. Man ii. 181 As fruits, ungrateful to the planter's care, On savage stocks inserted, learn to bear. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. l. V. 178 Their ungrateful soil refused the labours of agriculture. 1842Borrow Bible in Spain xxiii, The land is ungrateful and barren. 1864Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 288 The labourers in this ungrateful vineyard.
2. Unpleasant, disagreeable, distasteful.
1596Davies Orchestra 19 [To] tell..How she illudes..Th'vngratefull loue which other Lords began. 1641Vind. Smectymnuus iii. 53 It is in his power to save himselfe and us this ungrateful labour. 1691Hartcliffe Virtues 178 For a Man to praise or dispraise himself is ungrateful, and quickly cloyes the hearer. 1753Hanway Trav. (1762) v. lxxi. I. 320 Monopolies..are generally ungrateful to the people of a free state. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. xii. I. 325 The ungrateful rumour reached his ears. 1836J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. ix. (1852) 281 Even the kindness.., though not ungrateful, will not excite the proper working of esteem.
b. Of taste or smell, or of things in respect of these.
1597Gerarde Herbal i. xxviii. 34 These roots haue a strong..smell, and somewhat an vngratefull taste. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 307 Laudanum is best to be taken in a Pill, because of his ungrateful tast. 1663Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxviii, Good wine which..is rendred..acid and ungrateful to our palate. a1682Sir T. Browne Tracts (1683) 12 That which we now have is of an ungratefull odour. 1725Sloane Jamaica II. 17 The Nuts..are then tosted,..and made into an ungrateful drink. 1753Hanway Trav. v. lx. (1762) I. 279 The reeds through which we passed sent forth an ungrateful stench. 1846A. Marsh Father Darcy II. ii. 69 There he sat—endeavouring to touch the ungrateful food. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 465 By which certain foods are recognised, consciously or not, as grateful or ungrateful.
c. Of sounds.
1659O. Walker Instruct. Oratory 24 Too many Consonants or Vowells comming together are to be avoided, as causing an ungrateful sound. 1690C. Nesse O. & N. Test. I. 16 Some sounds..are very harsh and ungrateful. 1759Goldsm. Polite Learn. ii, It was the poet who harmonized the ungrateful accents of his native dialect. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xxxviii. 12 Then are these songs I sing of thee Not all ungrateful to thine ear. |