| 释义 |
improbity|ɪmˈprɒbɪtɪ, -ˈprəʊbɪtɪ|
[ad. L. improbitās, f. improbus wicked, persistent: cf. OF. improbité (14th c. in Godef. Compl.).]
†1. Persistency, perseverance. Obs. or nonce-use.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 154 Þis lastinge knocking is purging of man þat haþ lyved synfully; þis improbite to þis purpos is just tariyng of God. 1883Athenæum 19 May 627 The reader who has had the improbity (in the untranslatable Latin sense of improbus) to follow M. Renan carefully.
2. Wickedness, want of principle or integrity.
1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. iii. i. §7 Persons excommunicable, yea and cast out for notorious improbitie. 1695Ld. Preston Boeth. iv. 198 That the exuberant Improbity of ill Men may be repell'd and abated. 1731Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope I. 27 His countrymen, among whom..all Improbity is abhorred. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. i. vii. §5 The waste of wealth occasioned to Society by human improbity. |