| 释义 |
ˈhalf-ˌwitted, a.
[f. half wit + -ed2.
1706Hearne Collect. 12 Dec. I. 312 A man of half wit.]
†1. Lacking or deficient in (common) sense or reason; simple; senseless. Obs.
c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. 32 To have to doe with perverse, irrationall, half-witted men. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. §102 The half hearted, and half witted people, which made much the major part of both Houses. a1716Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 228 As if we should call a Man an idle, vain, empty, shallow-pated, or half-witted Fellow. 1797Godwin Enquirer i. ii. 8 A self-satisfied, half-witted fellow, is the most ridiculous of all things.
2. Not having all his wits; imbecile; daft.
1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. App. ii, A poor, simple..half-witted, crack-brained fellow. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. i. §3 A poor half-witted man that means no mischief. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. VI. xxx. 92 A half-witted king, every day growing feebler in mind.
Hence half-wittedness.
1832Westm. Rev. XVII. 273 If the attempt to hedge-in gold and silver was unmixed folly, the Mercantile System was the kind of hybrid denominated half-wittedness. |