| 释义 |
unsure, a.|ʌnˈʃʊə(r), ʌnˈʃɔə(r)|
[un-1 7.]
1. Not safe against attack or mishap; liable to danger or risk; exposed to hazard or peril; insecure.
a1400–50Alexander 2136 Bot, for þe cite was vnsure, þe seggis within Miȝt noȝt þe braidis a-bide of bernes enarmed. c1520in Yorks. Archæol. Jrnl. (1892) XII. 208 Who that puttith his trust in them I call hym most unsure. a1542Wyatt Poems (1913) I. 350 There is a rok..of suche nature, That drawithe the yron from the woode, And leveth the ship unsure. 1586J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 73/2 In Wales..he found his defense so weake, and vnsure, that [etc.]. 1600Holland Livy ix. 345 [They] had seene by experience..how unsure a cittie they inhabited and not unpregnable. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. IV, cclii, Hee knew his Claime, and how vnsure he sate Midst many enimies.
b. Not affording or conducive to safety; lacking in security; unsafe, liable to yield or give way.
1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 13355 Placys that be most peryllous,..Most dredful and most vnsure, Ther I logge, off nature. c1530More Answ. Frith Wks. 842/2 If ye will..deale surely for youre self, ye should rather leaue your vnsure waye whiche ye belieue, and come..to beleue as we doe. a1547Surrey æneid ii. 31 Now but a bay, and rode vnsure for ship. 1588Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 299 Throw the multitude of deidlie feidis and unsure passage. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. 201 Neither is it possible..to set firme footing upon the ground, so unsure it is and slipperie. a1661B. Holyday Juvenal (1673) 232 The ship..made but of unsure or dangerous planks. 1727P. Walker Biogr. Presbyt. (1827) I. 225 A very loose unsure Foundation. 1774Burke Sp. Amer. Tax. Wks. II. 420 It was indeed a very curious show, but utterly unsafe to touch, and unsure to stand on. 1830Cunningham Brit. Paint. II. 200 It seems they make unsure work at that church. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. vi, Down the oak staircase..[I] came very deliberately, feeling the unsure contact of sole and wax.
2. Marked or characterized by uncertainty or unsteadfastness; dependent on chance or accident; liable to fail; uncertain, precarious.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 16 Bysily in my mynde I gan revolue The welthe onsure of everye creature. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 197 The world unsuyr, fortune transmutable. c1449Pecock Repr. v. xiv. 560 Vnperfit men..ouȝten chese ful ofte the sikerer and surer good to hem bifore the vnsurer good. 1509Barclay Shyp Folys 17 b, He that is symple, and on the grounde doth lye,..Is surer by moche than he that lyeth on hye: Nowe vp, nowe downe vnsure as a Balaunce. 1559Mirr. Mag. B j, Ryches and promocion be vaine thynges and vnsure. 1584C. Robinson, etc. Handf. Pleas. Delights D 3 b, Svch bitter fruit thy loue doth yeelde,..such hope vnsure. 1614T. Adams White Devil 37 Their dwelling, like Cains, [is] very vnsure. 1629Maxwell tr. Herodian 108 Holding it a sufficient guerdon of an vnsure Soueraignty. 1641Baker Chron., Edw. VI, 82 King Edward supposing his state to be most safe when indeed it was most unsure. 1711Pope Temple Fame 508 Unsure the tenure, but how vast the fine! 1755J. Duncombe in Connoisseur No. 50. 296 Whose houses are as unsure a possession, as if they were built with cards. 1848T. Aird Chr. Bride ii. xvi, Old dragon Erc must we secure;..our scheme were else unsure. 1873M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma 138 The moral is, what an unsure stay, then, must miracles be!
3. a. Of persons, etc.: Not to be trusted or relied upon; unreliable, untrustworthy.
c1445Pecock Donet 208 Þou schalt considre..how brotyl, vnsure a wrecche þou art. a1470Harding Chron. Ded. v, That people..Hath..been so vntowarde, So vnstedfast, inconstaunte, and vnsure, That [etc.]. Ibid. xxxix. viii, [Catellus] Tenne yere reigned,..And dyed so vnder his vnsure deité. a1589Palfreyman Baldwin's Mor. Philos. (1600) 70 Hee is..deceiptfull, of his promise vnsure. 1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God (1620) 409 The senses are weake, dull and vnsure teachers. 1635Heywood Hierarchy vi. 331 Than th' Heart of man..There's nothing more inconstant and vnsure. 1653Holcroft Procopius, Goth. Wars iv. 145 If we prove unsure to them, we shall not be trusty to you. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 94 They are always bad citizens, and perfectly unsure connexions. 1807Coleridge Lett. (1895) 513 Which sures are such very unsure folks that [etc.]. 1867Swinburne Songs bef. Sunrise (1871) 58 Though she slay them, yet shall they trust in her, For unsure there is nought nor unjust in her. 1888Stevenson Black Arrow 21 Keep an eye on Sir Daniel; he is unsure.
†b. Weak, feeble. Obs. rare—1.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) VI. 51 Grawntynge to theyme a lytelle wyne..thro the whiche the unsure flesche [L. caro infirma] scholde be noryschede.
4. Subject to doubt or uncertainty; not fixed, sure, or certain; doubtful.
c1445Pecock Donet 107 If in dyuynite were no strenger groundis..dyuynite were a symple and an vnsure faculte. 1534More Treat. Passion Wks. 1279/2 Sure sory looking, for the vnsure time of deathe. a1586Sidney Arcadia i. iv, A thing no more unpleasant, then unsure, for the preserving of vertue. 1595Daniel Civ. Wars ii. iv, That, in the smoake of innouations strange Builde huge vncertaine plots of vnsure pride. 1612R. Carpenter Soule's Sent. 90 The speedy approach of death, sure in the end, vnsure in the time. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. vi. 100 It will be unsure to rely on any preservative. 1691Weesils ii. 10 Conquest unsure made you refuse before. 1849Cupples Green Hand xiv, In the unsure dusky sight I had of it, certainly, it [sc. a landmark] wore somewhat of that look.
5. Of persons, etc.: Lacking certainty, assurance, or confidence; not sure, assured, or certainly knowing; uncertain. Const. of, for, to, or with clause.
c1400Destr. Troy 11540 And now is nedfull for noye..All my gold for to geue,..Kepid in hurd, holdyn full long;..And I vnsure of my-self, my sorow is the more. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. 2144 She wolde for no þing be vnsure Of puruyaunce, nor with-oute stoor. a1461Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 241 Ful unsewyr atte the laste may he be To sette hys herte in swyche abundaunce. a1500Chaucer's Dreme 1732 Wild beastes..ran as of their lives unsure. 1534More Comf. agst. Trib. i. vi. (1573) 14 b, So blind is our mortalitie.., so vnsure also what maner mind we wil haue to morow. 1564Feckenham Let. to Cecil in Strype Ann. Ref. xlv. (1709) 460 Being always after unsure, how, or by what means, he might be..knit thereunto again. 1579Fenton Guicciard. i. 15 He is..of nothing more vnsure then to find remedy in his perils. 1595Daniel Civ. Wars ii. xlvii, And here my sou'raigne to make longer stay T' attend for what you are vnsure will fall May slippe th' occasion and incense their will. a1618Raleigh Observ. (1651) 56 Numbers of people that were..thrust out of their habitations, or unsafe, or unsure for their lives. 1628Bp. Hall Old Relig. 147 That God euer heares vs, wee are as sure, as wee are vnsure to be heard of Saints. 1679in Wodrow Hist. Suff. Ch. Scott. (1722) II. App. xviii. 18 Not finding it fit to unhinge himself of the one Party, while he was yet unsure of the other. a1850Rossetti Dante & Circle (1874) 49 Thus, being all unsure which path to take. 1855Sir J. Paget in Mem. & Lett. (1901) 209, I am unsure whether I can ever again have time. 1884A. Vambéry Life & Advent. vii. (1889) 71 Unsure of my discovery, I did not address him.
b. Without const.
a1500Chaucer's Dreme 894 Thus was I in a joyous dout, Sure and unsurest of that rout. a1536Tindale in Marbeck Bk. of Notes (1581) 366 For then shall the conscience be vnsure, doubting [etc.]. a1555Latimer Let. in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 1327/1 If they saye they bee vnsure, when shall you bee sure that hathe so doubtefull teachers and vnsure? 1624Heywood Gunaik. iv. 193 A man within himselfe unsure. 1896Mrs. Caffyn Quaker Grandmother 155 His mother looked as meek and unsure as a grocer's widow.
6. Marked or characterized by lack of sureness, assurance, or certainty.
1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. viii. xiii, With him went Doubt, stagg'ring with steps unsure, That every way, and neither way enclin'd. 1829Cunningham Brit. Paint. I. 207 His touch was unsure and he painted somewhat coarsely. 1867M. Arnold New Poems 132 Light ignorance, and hurrying, unsure thoughts. 1883R. W. Dixon Mano ii. i. 66 Never would he..His friend forsake, or make his faith unsure. |