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外刊例句
- But by offering the option to play blockbuster games like “Red Dead Redemption 2” without paying upfront for hardware, it could lure owners of comparatively feeble devices such as smartphones, tablets and TVs to cutting-edge games.
但既然现在无需先购入游戏硬件就能玩到《荒野大镖客2》之类的大热游戏,自然会吸引仅拥有智能手机、平板电脑和电视等性能相对较弱设备的玩家去玩这些新款游戏。
——《经济学人》 - How incredible that this bold, envelope-pushing design came from Microsoft, a company that for years produced only feeble imitations of other companies’ fresh ideas.
这一挑战极限的大胆设计出自微软这家多年来只会可怜地模仿其他公司新创意的公司,真让人难以置信。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[adjective] lacking physical strength, especially as a result of age or illness
[形容词] 缺乏体力,尤指由年龄或疾病引起的
深入解读
Feeble 一词源自拉丁语 flere (哭泣、流泪、悲叹),12世纪末进入英语表示“身体上、道德上或智力上缺乏力量或者活力”,现在主要表示“虚弱的、衰弱的”,强调身体衰弱无力、精力几乎耗尽,含令人怜悯的意味,比如:
- 他是一个虚弱无助的老人。
He was a feeble, helpless old man. - 心搏无力,心律不齐。
The heartbeat was feeble and irregular.
用在品行道德或智力上时,则表示“(智力、性格等)弱的、软弱的”,比如:
- 别那么软弱了!告诉她你不想去。
Don't be so feeble! Tell her you don't want to go.
除了形容人及其言语行为外, feeble 还可以引申用于形容其他事物“微弱的、脆弱的、薄弱的”,甚至“无效的、无力的”,比如:
- 这盏小灯只发出一点微弱的光。
The little lamp gave only a feeble light. - 对这个计划的反对声相当无力。
Opposition to the plan was rather feeble. - 无力的证据;站不住脚的借口;干巴巴的笑话
a feeble argument/excuse/joke
名人用例
The tragedy of the world is that those who are imaginative have but slight experience, and those who are experienced have feeble imaginations.
世界的悲剧就在于有想象力的人缺乏经验,而有经验的人缺乏想象力。
出自英国数学家、哲学家阿尔弗雷德·诺思·怀特海(Alfred North Whitehead,1861年2月15日-1947年12月30日)。他与伯特兰·罗素(Bertrand Russell)合著的《数学原理》(Principia Mathematica)标志着人类逻辑思维的巨大进步,是永久性的伟大学术著作之一。
同近义词
- puny: small and weak; not very impressive
- frail: (of a person) weak and delicate
- fragile: (of a person) not strong or sturdy; delicate and vulnerable