释义 |
‖ nil admirari|nɪl ædmɪˈrɑːrɪ| [L.] An attitude of indifference to the distractions of the outside world, advocated by Horace (Epistles i. vi. 1): nil admirari prope res est una..quae possit facere et servare beatum, ‘to wonder at nothing is just about the only way a man can become contented and remain so.’ Hence, a person adopting this attitude. Also attrib. or as adj. Also used erron. with the meaning ‘to admire nothing’.
1748Chesterfield Let. 27 Sept. (1774) I. 345 This book..will both divert and astonish you; and at the same time, teach you nil admirari. 1749Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. i. 8 The famous Nil admirari of Horace, or in the English Phrase, To stare at nothing. 1785Boswell Jrnl. Tour Hebr. 118 But Dr. Johnson has much of the nil admirari in smaller concerns. 1821Byron Juan v. c. 185, I ne'er could see the very Great happiness of the ‘Nil Admirari’. 1822Shelley Let. 18 June (1964) II. 715 The nil admirari..seems to me a bad sign in a young person. 1857Trollope Barchester T. III. xvi. 277 Very many men now-a-days..adopt or affect to adopt the nil admirari doctrine. 1866Mrs. Gaskell Wives & Dau. I. xxii. 287 Every inflexion of the voice breathed out..admiration! And this from the nil admirari brother. 1935J. Buchan House of Four Winds vi. 139 Mr. Glynde's nil admirari countenance..registered surprise. 1951N. Annan Leslie Stephen x. 278 Nil admirari was his precept, the salute to genius his practice. 1961M. Kelly Spoilt Kill iii. 193 Why was I always preaching nil admirari? |