| 释义 |
witless, a. Now only literary and somewhat arch.|ˈwɪtlɪs|
[OE. witléas, also ᵹewitléas: see wit n., iwit, and -less.]
1. Lacking wisdom or sense; not guided by reason; unreasonable, foolish, heedless.
[a1000Boeth. Metr. xix. 46 Wenað þonne swa ᵹewitlease ðæt hi þa soðan ᵹesælða hæbben.] c1200Ormin 6197 Ȝiff þin macche iss wis & god, & tu wittlæs & wicke. c1290S. Eng. Leg. 248/263 Þov witlese wrechche. c140026 Pol. Poems iii. 90 Witteles wordes in ydel spoken. c1400Brut ccxiii. 249 Longe berde hertles, peyntede Hode witles, Gay cote graceles, makeþ Englissheman þriftles. 1559Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence xiii, I was witlesse, wanton, fond, and yong. 1581Burne in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 170 Ane..confused rabil of vitles Bishopis. 1587Turberv. Trag. Tales 73 b, O wilfull witlesse acte, Which no man well aduisde would do. a1676Hale Prim. Orig. Man. (1677) 356 To keep in and regulate the extravagant and witless Spirit of Man. 1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 149 Why did I, young witless maid Believe the flatt'ring tale? 1794Godwin Cal. Williams 42 Intended (witless and miserable precaution!) for the safeguards of the poor. 1803J. Porter Thaddeus xxxvi, This witless coxcomb. 1860Motley Netherl. v. (1868) I. 153 It was witless to believe that Parma contemplated any such measure. 1879Butcher & Lang Odyssey 25 Telemachus, even hereafter thou shalt not be craven or witless. 1910Times 13 July 12/3 Mr. Rolls..had..to drop suddenly to the ground..owing to some witless spectators running into his way.
2. Mentally deficient or deranged; out of one's wits, crazy, lunatic. † Also, stupefied, dazed.
c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 146 On þam fiftan monþe he [sc. the fœtus] biþ cwica and weaxeð and seo modur lið witleas. c1290Beket 1906 in S. Eng. Leg. 161 He eode op and doun ase witles. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4414 He verde as a witles mon, hit was deol to be him ney. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 440 Sa lang witlas stil he stud, Til þat nere he dronyt in þat flud. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 1, I awaked þere-with, witles nerehande. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 573 Wraithly wroht, as their war witlese and wode. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. xxxiv. 1 The woord (witlesse)..will well agree, bycause Dauid feyned himself too bee out of his wittes. 16..Young Musgrave xix. in Child Ballads II. 249/2 She'll gae witless wud. 1900H. Sutcliffe Shameless Wayne iii. (1905) 26 It would never do to leave this witless body to the night-rain and the cold.
†3. Devoid of understanding; having no intellectual faculty; irrational. Obs.
1382Wyclif Wisd. xv. 18 Thei most wrecchid herien bestes; witles forsothe, comparisouned to these. c1395Plowman's T. ii. 528 They..liven wors than witles beestes. 1577T. Kendall Flowers Epigr. 50 This Image..Tongles and witles. 1587Golding De Mornay xiv. 236 Sillie Soules which go on still like witlesse Beastes.
4. a. Deficient in understanding; having undeveloped or imperfect intellectual power; unintelligent, undiscerning; stupid, dull-witted.
1562A. Brooke Romeus & Jul. 2470 Euen from the hory head vnto the witles childe She wan the hartes of all. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate (1639) 6, I hold none so witlesse which cannot make use thereof, when they once see but the instrument. 1625Purchas Pilgrims II. vi. i. 777 The Inhabitants..are most base and witlesse people. 1822Praed Lillian i. 140 The witless Child grew up alone. 1855M. Arnold Balder Dead i. 98 Of ignorant witless mind Thou barest me, and unforeseeing soul.
b. Not understanding (something specified or implied); inapprehensive.
1614R. Wilkinson Paire Serm. 2 Witlesse to discerne what he is himselfe. 1637Rutherford Lett., To Jas. Lindsay 7 Sept. (1671) 138 A witless and lazie observer of the Lord's way and working. 1855Browning An Epistle 143 The man is witless of..The value in proportion of all things. 1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics iii. iv. (1860) I. 85 The blue aether..at which to look up with smiles of witless wonder.
5. Not knowing; unaware, unconscious of.
In quot. 1827, incapable of.
1584Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 691 Ignorant and wytles of thair rysche and insolent behaviour. 1597Beard Theatre God's Judgem. i. ii. (1612) 232 Guiltlesse and witlesse of the crime. 1827Hood Mids. Fairies lxxxi, His pretty pouting mouth, witless of speech. 1850P. Crook War of Hats 34 Witless of the storm his words excite. 1872Blackie Lays Highl. 82 He lay all witless of his doom.
6. Devoid of wit (wit n. 8). rare.
1753Richardson Grandison II. xxvi. 200 Repartee and smartness; the current wit of that witless place. 1859Habits of Gd. Society 93 He can no longer claim exemption from solemn dinners,..and witless tea-parties.
7. Alluding to a state of extreme fear. Esp. in colloq. phr. to be scared witless.
1975D. Bagley Snow Tiger 19 It's the last job he'll ever have and he's scared witless that he'll lose it. 1982S. Brett Murder Unprompted ii. 19 ‘How are you feeling?’.. ‘Scared witless, darling.’
Hence ˈwitlessly adv., foolishly, stupidly; ˈwitlessness, senselessness, folly, stupidity.
a1100in Napier OE. Glosses (1902) 213 Socordia, torpor, dementia, witleasnes. 1598Florio To Rdr. 7 Had not H. S...so witlessly prouoked me. 1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 178 Divine blessing, which accompanieth good causes, where wickednesse or wilfull witlessenesse doth not barre against it. 1608T. Morton Preamb. Encounter 72 Rather..accounted lyingly witty, than witlesly rash. 1766Fordyce Serm. Yng. Women (1767) I. vii. 302 The admiration raised by ‘a set of features..’, is often by the witlessness of the possessor thrown down in an instant. 1855A. Manning Old Chelsea Bun-ho. xix. 317 Everybody conceived themselves safe, as witlessly as they had previously held themselves to be in Danger. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 239 Wisdom was turned into witlessness. 1879Butcher & Lang Odyssey 282 He kicked Odysseus on the hip in his witlessness. 1910Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Mar. 82/3 An artist..choosing to portray..the havoc and witlessness of mankind. |