| 释义 |
invidious, a.|ɪnˈvɪdɪəs|
Also 8 erron. -uous.
[ad. L. invidiōs-us (see -ous), f. invidia ill will, envy.]
1. Of a charge, complaint, report, etc.: Tending or fitted to excite odium, unpopularity, or ill feeling against some one. Now rare.
1606Holland Sueton. 58 Asinivs Pollio..made a grievous and invidious complaint in the Senate house, of the fall that æserninvs his nephew tooke. 1697Dryden æneid xi. 518 He rose, and took th' advantage of the times, To load young Turnus with invidious crimes. 1755(title) An answer to an invidious Pamphlet entituled, A Brief State of the Province of Pennsylvania. 1857Gladstone Glean. (1879) VI. xvi. 56 The second is drawn from him by the invidious question of the Pharisees.
2. Of an action, duty, topic, etc.: Entailing odium or ill will upon the person performing, discharging, discussing, etc.; giving offence to others.
1701Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. ii. i, 'Twere an invidious Task to enter into The Insolence, and other Faults [etc.]. 1708Swift Sentim. Ch. Eng. Man Wks. 1755 II. i. 78 A great deal hath been already said by other writers upon this invidious and beaten subject; therefore I shall let it fall. 1803Mackintosh Def. Peltier Wks. 1846 III. 242 The charge which I have to defend is surrounded with the most invidious topics of discussion. 1846Hawthorne Mosses ii. viii. 148 (Earth's Holocaust) It would be invidious if not perilous to betray their awful secrets.
b. Of a comparison or distinction: Offensively discriminating.
1709Sacheverell Serm. 5 Nov. 23 Those Inviduous Distinctions that..Distract..Us. 1868Rogers Pol. Econ. ix. (1876) 88 The laws against the combinations of labourers..were seen to be unjust and invidious. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 105 They are all alike, and he will have no invidious distinctions between them.
3. Of a thing: Fitted to excite ill feeling or envy against the possessor.
a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 556 Amounting to an invidious and almost incredible sum of one hundred thousand pounds. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. ii. Wks. 1813 I. 98 Without the invidious name of protector, he succeeded to all the power and influence of which Somerset was deprived. 1770Burke Pres. Discont. Wks. 1842 I. 128 His revenue..was ample without being invidious. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 71 Catharine saw all the peril of such a step, and declined the invidious honor.
4. That looks with an evil eye; envious, grudging, jealous. Now rare.
1668Wilkins Real Char. ii. ix. 232 Envy, Spite-full, invidious, grudge, repine, malign. 1711Puckle Club 19 He [the Splenetic Detractor] had Ever an invidious eye upon the Clergy, and Men Eminent for virtue. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) II. 359 Some malignant invidious god, who looks upon men with a jealous eye. 1829Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 I. 469/2 Thou, Plato, who hast cause to be invidious of not many, art of nearly all.
†5. Viewed with ill will or dislike; odious to a person. Obs. rare.
1710Steele Tatler No. 233 ⁋2 Joseph, a beloved Child of Israel, became invidious to his elder Brethren. 1715–20Pope Iliad i. 102, I must speak what wisdom would conceal, And truths, invidious to the great, reveal. |