本文经授权转载自微信公众号:田间小站
SAT TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- Jane Fonda has an unkempt fringe and holds up a fist in protest.
简·方达的刘海蓬乱,举起拳头以示抗议。
——《经济学人》 - The farmhouse, once scrupulously tidy, looked unkempt.
曾经井井有条的农舍如今显得凌乱不堪。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[adjective] (especially of a person) having an untidy or disheveled appearance
[形容词] (尤指人)外表邋遢或凌乱的
深入解读
Unkempt 一词源自古英语 cemban (梳理),16世纪70年代由前缀 un- (否定)+中古英语 kemben (梳理)的过去分词变体 kempt (梳得很好的、整洁的)构成而来。
该词既可以用来形容人的头发、胡须等“未梳理的、凌乱的、缠结的”,也可以用来形容人的总体面貌以及花园、房间等“不整洁的、未收拾整齐的、未被照管好的”,即适用于形容那些为了给人留下好印象而需要保持整洁的事物,常意味着极度疏忽,比如:
- 蓬乱的胡须
an unkempt beard - 不修边幅的外貌
an unkempt appearance - 凌乱的酒店房间
an unkempt hotel room - 曾经荒芜的果园里果实累累的椰枣树
the loaded date palms in the once unkempt orchard
名著用例
His voice was hoarse and his unkempt head only added to its grewsome quality.
他的声音嘶哑,加上他那副蓬头垢面的样子,听起来很可怕。
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
- scruffy: shabby and untidy or dirty
- disheveled: (of a person's hair, clothes, or appearance) untidy; disordered
- slovenly:(especially of a person or their appearance) messy and dirty