| 释义 |
intense, a.|ɪnˈtɛns|
Also 5 intens.
[a. F. intense, ad. L. intens-us ‘stretched, strained, tight, violent’, rarely ‘intent’, pa. pple. of intendĕre: see intend v. In origin a doublet of intent a., q.v.]
Etymologically, Stretched, strained, high-strung. Hence:
1. Of a quality or condition: Raised to or existing in a strained or very high degree; very strong or acute; violent, vehement, extreme, excessive; of colour, very deep; of a feeling, ardent (cf. also 3).
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 65 Þe north..whare comounly es mare intense cold þan in oþer placez. 1435Misyn Fire of Love i. 2 Sum tyeme more & more intens, & sum tyeme les. 1625Hart Anat. Ur. i. iii. 33 Vrines not of so high intense a colour. 1667Evelyn Diary 4 Apr., The cold so intense that there was hardly a leaf on a tree. 1708J. Philips Cyder i. 10 Titan then exerts His Heat intense, and on our Vitals preys. 1816Accum Chem. Tests (1818) 288 The colour is a pure intense indigo blue. 1857Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 48 The..intensest possible type of the greatest error which nations and princes can commit. 1883Hardwich's Photogr. Chem. (ed. Taylor) 240 The black colour is even more intense than an experienced chemist would have anticipated.
2. transf. Of a thing: Having some characteristic quality in a very high degree; intensely forcible, bright, hot, etc.
1653R. Sanders Physiogn. 242 A middle voice, betwixt intense and remiss. 1707Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 357 The intense Pulse is great and frequent. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. xix. §3 (1819) 289 A supply of poison, intense in quality, in proportion to the smallness of the drop. 1821Shelley Adonais xx, Th' intense atom glows A moment, then is quenched. 1852M. Arnold Self-defence iv, From the intense, clear, star-sown vault of heaven, Over the lit sea's unquiet way. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxvii, The yellow stars grew more intense overhead.
b. spec. in Photography: = dense a. 3.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 143 Beginners often make their negatives too intense.
3. Of personal, esp. mental, action, etc.: Strained or strenuously directed to some end; intent, eager, earnest, ardent. (Often not distinguished from 1.)
1645Milton Tetrach. Wks. (1851) 155 Somtime slackning the cords of intense thought and labour. 1744Berkeley Siris §86 Cruel vigils, occasioned either by sickness or by too intense application of mind. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xi, Vivaldi listened with intense attention. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 464 They looked with intense anxiety towards England. 1851Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 444 A state of unusual activity, either from intense thought, from prolonged exertion, or from continued anxiety. 1874Sidgwick Meth. Ethics ii. v. §3. 172 A man may live a very intense life if he be passionately devoted to field-sports or beetles. 1882Ouida Maremma I. vii. 155 Her voice gave intensest passion and longing to the words.
4. Of a person:
†a. Having the thoughts strenuously directed to some end; intent upon (about) something. Obs.
b. Feeling, or susceptible to, intense emotion or affection. Also, manifesting intense emotion or excitability, esp. in æsthetic or intellectual contexts.
1640W. Bridge True Souldiers Convoy 14 A man is saide to be a sleepe when he is so intense about one busines that hee doth not regard another. 1677W. Hubbard Narrative 33 They were so intense upon the Project they were about. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 48 We found the elector intense upon the strengthening of his army. 1817Keats Let. 28 Dec. (1931) I. 76, I..went..to see ‘Death on the Pale Horse’. It is a wonderful picture, when West's age is considered; but there is nothing to be intense upon, no women one feels mad to kiss, no face swelling into reality. 1830Mackintosh 12 Oct. in Life (1836) II. 476 ‘The intense school’ may be defined as always using the strongest possible word on every possible occasion. 1871Farrar Witn. Hist. iii. 103 Even Pagan hatred never surpassed..the deep gloom and scorching glare of the intense Tertullian. 1879W. D. Howells in Atlantic Monthly Jan. 38/2 ‘Why Miss Blood you are intense!’ ‘I don't know what you mean by that,’ said Lydia. ‘You like to take things seriously. You can't bear to think that people are not the least in earnest, even when they least seem so.’ 1880G. du Maurier Eng. Soc. at Home pl. 49 Fair æsthetic (suddenly, and in deepest tones, to Smith, who has just been introduced to take her in to Dinner). ‘Are you Intense?’ 1897H. Ellis Stud. Psychol. Sex I. 88 Miss M., aged 29, the daughter of English parents (both musicians) who were both of what is described as ‘intense’ temperaments. 1925Punch 6 May 487 Intense Lady. ‘Tell me—have you ever been psychoed?’
5. transf. Of language, aspect, etc.: Expressing or manifesting intense feeling, purpose, etc.
1684Earl of Roscommon Ess. Transl. Verse 344 Sublime or low, unbended or intense, The sound is still a Comment on the Sense. 1838Macaulay Diary in Trevelyan Life (1876) II. vii. 32 The expression singularly intense and stern. 1860Motley Netherl. (1868) I. vi. 322 It is also instructive to observe the intense language.
†6. Tending strongly; prone. Obs. rare.
1620Venner Via Recta viii. 172 In sleep, the spirits are more intense to concoction. |