| 释义 |
unˈsweet, a.
[OE. unswéte (un-1 7), = WFris. on-, ûnswiet, OS. unswôti, MLG. unsote, MDu. onsoete (Du. onzoet), OHG. unsuoȥi (MHG. unsüeȥe, G. unsüss). Cf. unsoot a.]
1. Unpleasant, disagreeable, distasteful.
c890Wærferth tr. Gregory's Dial. iv. xxxvii. 318 Þæt..of þære ea wære reocende se mist..unswetes stences. c1000Saxon Leechd. II. 48/14 Þonne ne biþ he to unswete to ᵹestincanne. c1320Sir Tristr. 968 Tristrem, y telle it þe, A þing, is me vnswete. c1384Chaucer H. Fame i. 72 A floode of helle vnswete. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 895 Þe meschef of her vnhappy fyne, And how Fortune was to hem vnswete—Al þis was tolde..of þe poete. Ibid. iii. 3928, I hope..so mortally to greue Þe Grekis alle,..Þat þei & þou shul fele ful vnswete. 1509Fisher Wks. i. 279 Worldly pleasures were to hym vnswete. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 14 The troublous stormes, that tosse The priuate state, and make the life vnsweet. 1603J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 34 Wakfull thoughts..That make their sleepes vnsweet, and yet as short. 1633T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 8 Yet how unsweet were our sacrifice, the bran and dregs of our dotage. 1848L. Hunt Jar Honey i. 7 Provided the result..be not un-sweet to the reader. 1876Meredith Beauch. Career III. i. 2 Certain terms in the letters.., unsweet to ladies, began to trouble his mind.
b. Of a person. rare.
a1600in Percy Folio (1867) I. 114 Alle the contraye had wonder greatt Fro whens she com, that foule vnswete; They sawe neuer of so fowlle a thyng.
2. Not sweet or pleasant to the taste.
c1440Pallad. on Husb. ix. 72 Slak sonde [yields water] lymous and lene, vnswete & depe. 1530Palsgr. 328/2 Unswete, mal sauouré. 1547Homilies i. Falling fr. God ii. ⁋3 We..bring forth wild grapes, that is to say, sour works, unsweet, unsavoury, and unfruitful. a1643J. Shute Judgem. & Mercy (1645) 201 God will poure him out of his mouth as a man doth that that is unsavory and unsweet that troubles his tongue. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 202 But the flesh is soft, unsweet, ferine, mucous.
3. Not smelling sweetly.
1605Breton Olde Man's Lesson Wks. (Grosart) II. 17/1 Which is the sweetest Beast in the world? A Ciuit Cat. And which is the moste vnsweet? A dogge when he hath eaten carrion. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 110 Tame Conies which are kept in a close and vnsweet ayre. 1825Q. Rev. XXXI. 381 Edinburgh has been (to use a gentle term) unsweet in former times. 1860Thackeray in Cornh. Mag. II. 635 The canals not unsweet, and busy and picturesque with old-world life. 1879Pall Mall Budget 17 Oct. 12 That damp, chill, and unsweet little cluster of rooms.
fig.1811Lamb Hogarth Wks. 1908 I. 107 That his imagination was naturally unsweet, and that he delighted in raking into every species of moral filth.
4. Unpleasant to the ear.
1579G. Harvey Commend. Let. in Spenser's Wks. (1912) 641/1 The sweetest Farewell..that so vnsweete a Tong, and so sowre a paire of Lippes can affoorde. a1586Sidney Astr. & Stella lxxxiv, My Muse, to some eares not vnsweet, Tempers her words [etc.]. 1589Fleming Virg. Georg. To Rdr., How vnsweete a sound so euer they seeme to make in the eare. a1616B. Jonson Epigr., On Famous Voy. Wks. 817 When the noise doth beate Vpon your eares, of discords so vn-sweet. 1875Clodd Childh. Relig. i. 2 If you wish to open..your ears to the sounds that give forth no unsweet notes. 1894Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. 312 A little laugh, which..was not unsweet.
5. Not sweetly attractive.
1866Miss Mulock Noble Life xiv, Nor was her face unsweet now; but it bore tokens of what she had gone through.
Hence unˈsweetly adv.; unˈsweetness.
1596P. Barrough Meth. Physick (ed. 3) 425 Which deceit..you may easilie find out by the vnsweetnes of smelling. 1842Mrs. Browning Grk. Chr. Poets i. ⁋1 The voice..sang not unsweetly, if more faintly than before. |