belittle
英 [b?'l?t(?)l]
美 [b?'l?tl]
英文詞源
- belittle (v.)
- 1781, "to make small," from be- + little (v.); first recorded in writings of Thomas Jefferson (and probably coined by him), who was roundly execrated for it in England:
Belittle! What an expression! It may be an elegant one in Virginia, and even perfectly intelligible; but for our part, all we can do is to guess at its meaning. For shame, Mr. Jefferson! ["European Magazine and London Review," 1787, reporting on "Notes on the State of Virginia"; to guess was considered another barbarous Yankeeism.]
Jefferson used it to characterize Buffon's view that American life was stunted by nature, which he was refuting. The figurative sense of "depreciate, scorn as worthless" (as the reviewers did to this word) is from 1797. Related: Belittled; belittling.
雙語例句
- 1. Already, both sides are jockeying to belittle the other side.
- 雙方已經(jīng)在使出渾身解數(shù)貶低對(duì)方了。
來自柯林斯例句
- 2. We mustn't belittle her outstanding achievement.
- 我們一定不能小瞧了她所取得的杰出成就。
來自柯林斯例句
- 3. It is wrong to belittle or neglect popularization.
- 輕視和忽視普及工作的態(tài)度是錯(cuò)誤的.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
- 4. Do not belittle what he has achieved.
- 不能小看他取得的成績.
來自《現(xiàn)代漢英綜合大詞典》
- 5. It makes no sense to belittle the enormity of the disaster which has occurred.
- 對(duì)于已經(jīng)發(fā)生的災(zāi)難，其嚴(yán)重性不該小視。
來自柯林斯例句