| 释义 |
fearful, a.|ˈfɪəfʊl|
Forms: 4–5 ferful(l, (4 fervol), 4–6 fereful(l, feerful(l, 4–7 fearefull, 6–7 fearfull(e, 6– fearful.
[f. as prec. + -ful.]
I. objectively.
1. Causing fear; inspiring terror, reverence, or awe; dreadful, terrible, awful.
1340–70Alisaunder 291 Þei lete flie to þe flocke ferefull sondes. 1382Wyclif Gen. xxviii. 17 And [Iacob] dredynge seide, Howe feerful is this place! c1400Destr. Troy 7731 This feerfull freike frusshet into batell. 1461Paston Lett. No. 400 II. 25 She shuld be..put in ferfull place, in shortyng of hyr lyve dayes. a1533Ld. Berners Huon xlii. 140 When he was in dyspleasure, he had a fearfull chere. 1563W. Fulke Meteors (1640) 10 b, A flying Dragon..very fearefull to looke upon. 1611Bible Deut. xxviii. 58 Feare this glorious and fearefull Name, the Lord Thy God. a1694Tillotson (J.), That fearful Punishment..shall be inflicted on them. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 98 My fear⁓fullest danger! 1792S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 43 At mid⁓night's fearful hour. 1848W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 90 M. de Choulot..made him take a..fearful oath.
†b. Const. to, unto.
1548Hall Chron. 166 As his person was fearfull..to his adversaries present: so his name. 1625Purchas Pilgrims ii. 1475 They [Apes] are fearefull..to Birds that make their nests in Trees. 1658Cleveland Rustick Rampant Wks. (1687) 418 A Glorious King, fearful to your Enemies.
c. Comb.; adverbially as in fearful-sounding.
1611Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iii. Schisme 1065 If thou their metall by that touch-stone try Which fearfull-sounding from thy mouth doth fly.
2. Applied to bad or annoying things in intensive sense. Cf. awful, terrible, dreadful, etc.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 39 The..fearefull stench of the unburied bodies. 1811Lamb Guy Faux, They make a fearful outcry against the violation of every principle of morality. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 112 He complained of fearful thirst. 1884Christian Commw. 21 Feb. 440/1 Their fearful departures from Apostolic practice.
b. dial. Enormous in quantity.
1877N.W. Lincolnsh. Gloss., ‘There's a fearful lot o' apples t' year.’
c. adv. = fearfully. Obs. in educated use; in some dialects merely intensive = awful.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 8 In Angola the people are fearfull blacke. 1790Mrs. Wheeler Westmld. Dial. (1821) 66 He leakt es if he wor fearful weel pleast. 1862Hamerton Painter's Camp I. 42 ‘You see theyve heard tell..'at there's a feefil 'ansome young chap.’
II. subjectively.
3. Frightened, timorous, timid, apprehensive.
a. simply. Now somewhat rare.
c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 450 Criseyde..was þe ferfulleste wyght That myght be. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. vi. (1495) 752 The female lambes ben..more ferefull than the male. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xv. 361 ‘Ha, thef..how ferfull thou art now.’ 1586Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. i. ii, With their fearful tongues they shall confess. a1628Sir J. Beaumont Bosworth F. 783 Gain thou some Hours to draw thy fearful Breath. 1653Walton Angler 52 Chubs..be a very fearful fish. 1672Dryden Conq. Granada ii. i. ii, But now my fearful people mutiny. 1702Addison Dial. Medals x. (1727) 45 Th' impatient Greyhound..Bounds..to catch the fearful Hare. 1773Mrs. Chapone Improv. Mind (1774) I. 111 Women are more fearful than men. 1827Keble Chr. Year, 3rd Sunday in Lent, It was a fearful joy..To trace the Heathen's toil. 1831M. W. Shelley Swiss Peasant in ‘Keepsake’ 125 His fearful family would count in agony the hours of his absence.
absol.c1400Prymer (E.E.T.S.) 30 Seynte marie..helpe feerful, and refresche þe soreuful.
b. Const. of (also to with inf.), or with clause introduced by lest or that.
c1360Vern. MS. Min. Poems 524 Þe lattor þou art of good worching þe more feruol þou shalt be of bi-ginnyng. c1400Beryn 2971 Beryn and his company wer..ferefull howe to spede. 1605Shakes. Lear i. iv. 225, I..now grow fearefull..That you protect this course. 1612Davies Why Ireland, etc. 270 The Irish are more fearefull to offend the Law. 1630Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 101 Somewhat fear⁓full of our desperate wanderers. 1665Hooke Microgr. 207 As a man blindfolded would do his hands when he is fearfull of running against a wall. 1725Pope Odyss. vi. 173 Fearful to offend..At awful distance he accosts the maid. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest x, Adeline was fearful of observation. 1798Webbe in Owen Wellesley's Desp. 5, I am fearful that..an attack upon him now is more likely to end in discomfiture. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) I. iv. 204 This great minister's knowledge of the queen's temper..made him sometimes fearful to act. 1850Kingsley Alt. Locke i, She would have led me in a string..so fearful was she lest I should be polluted. 1879Low Afghan War iii. 279 The Afghan chief, fearful of trying an assault, determined to invest the place.
†c. Anxious, concerned; with about, of indicating the object of anxiety or concern.
1535Coverdale 1 Sam. iv. 13 His herte was fearfull aboute y⊇ Arke of God. 1590Marlowe 2nd Pt. Tamburl. iii. v, Thou art fearful of thy army's strength. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. vi. 87 Edward shall be feareful of his life.
4. Of looks, words, etc.: Indicating or giving signs of fear or terror.
1535Coverdale 2 Esdras iii. 3, I beganne to speake fearfull wordes to the most hyest. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 181 Cold fearefull drops stand on my trembling flesh. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. i. §7. 35 A wavering and fearful assent. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, Adeline..threw a fearful glance around. 1814Southey Roderick xiii. 119 Hasty, yet faltering in his fearful speech.
†5. Cautious, wary. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 56 Fearefull in prosperytees and pacyent in aduersytees. 1640Bp. Reynolds Passions ix, It is fit that..considering the deceitfulnesse of things..we should bring a fearful judgement. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. III. xlviii. 58 The march of the reinforcement was tardy and fearful. 1791Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 98 Our courts cannot be more fearful..than prudent.
6. Full of awe or reverence.
1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxvii. (1611) 359 A kinde of fearefull admiration at the heauen. 1602F. Davison in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 323 That I to thy name may beare Fearfull loue. 1879Farrar St. Paul (1883) 332 Paul saw in him the spirit of loving and fearful duty. |