本文经授权转载自微信公众号:田间小站
TOEFL TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- First, scare companies by laying bare where they are failing. Then soothe them with counsel on how to improve.
首先明白地指出企业的不足,吓住它们。然后再提出改进的建议,安抚它们。
——《经济学人》 - Online shopping became a way to soothe daily anxieties, and Ms. Huang sometimes racked up thousands of dollars in Huabei bills, which only made her even more anxious.
网上购物已经成为她缓解日常焦虑的一种方式,有时黄女士的花呗账单会累积到数千美元,这只会让她更加焦虑。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[verb] gently calm (a person or their feelings)
[动词] 轻轻地平静(某人或其情绪)
深入解读
Soothe 一词与较容易混淆的单词 sooth (真实、实情、实际)同源,都源自于古英语 soð (真的;公正的、正义的)。
在生活中,经常会通过明确肯定某人说的是真的或正确的来对其进行安抚(也可以说是通过唯唯诺诺来安抚人)。从这个概念出发,到了17世纪末英语中开始用 soothe 表示“安慰、抚慰、劝慰”或“使平静、使镇定”,多指以安慰减轻悲痛、愤怒或激动,使人理智地平静下来,常意味着一种平淡、温和的缓解、缓和或安慰,比如:
- 那个脾气暴躁的老妇人搂着一个哭闹的小孩,让其安静了下来。
The grumpy old woman cuddled and soothed a crying baby. - 这刺耳的音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿,却使我头脑发晕。
The strident music soothed her for a while, but made my head swirl.
而到了18世纪初, soothe 又进一步用来表示“减轻、缓和”身体某部位的紧张、疼痛、不适等,使之感到舒服,这也可以用来喻指缓和痛苦、困难等,比如:
- 洗个热水澡,让紧张疲劳的肌肉放松一下。然后坐的时候尽量不要无精打采的。
Take a warm bath to soothe tense, tired muscles. Then try not to slouch when you are sitting down.
名著用例
She felt a little out of place, but the great room soothed her and the view of the well-dressed throng outside seemed a splendid thing.
她稍稍感到有些不自在,但是这大餐厅使她宽心,看看窗外那些服装华丽的人流,也似乎令人振奋。
出自美国现实主义作家西奥多·德莱赛(Theodore Dreiser)创作的长篇小说《嘉莉妹妹》(Sister Carrie)。参见:名著下载 | 嘉莉妹妹(Sister Carrie)
同近义词
- lull: calm or send to sleep, typically with soothing sounds or movements
- assuage: to make unpleasant feelings less strong
- pacify: quell the anger, agitation, or excitement of