| 释义 |
▪ I. unˈseemly, a. (and n.)
[un-1 7. Cf. ON. úsœ́milig-r (Icel. ósæmilegur, Da. usømmelig, Norw. usømeleg, etc.).]
1. Unbecoming, unfitting; indecent.
a1310in Wright Lyric P. viii. 31 Ofte in song y have hem set, that is unsemly ther hit syt. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 171 Þei did a foule trespas, it was vnsemly þing. a1400–50Alexander 99 For soth it is vnsemely slike sawis of a prynce. c1440Promp. Parv. 367/1 On-semely, indecens, inconveniens. 1542Hen. VIII Declar. Scots A iv, With that vnsemely dissimulation, we were not a lytell moued. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xlviii. §4 Things in themselues vnholie or vnseemly we may not aske. 1645Ussher Body Div. 218 That no unseemely behaviour proceed from us. 1692E. Walker tr. Epictetus' Mor. l, Nor would they anything unseemly say. 1738Waterland Chr. Sacr. Expl. Appendix i. 6 An unseemly Reflection upon..The Sacrifices of God. 1791Cowper Odyss. xvii. 243 A squalid beggar..in unseemly garb attir'd. 1824Dibdin Libr. Comp. 616 Shall..all editions be passed over in a sort of unseemly silence? 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 39 The news..threw him into a passion..which hurried him into many foolish and unseemly actions. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. xviii. IV. 155 To offer to William..an insult as unseemly as it was senseless.
absol.1880Sat. Rev. 7 Aug. 162/2 Partaking not a little of the unwise as well as of the unseemly.
b. Const. for († of, to) and with inf.
a1300Body & Soul in Map's Poems (Camden) 335 Thouȝ art unsemly for to se, uncomli for to cussen suwete. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxi. (Clement) 659 Sayand, vnsemly ware to se cristine man begare to be. c1445Pecock Donet 139 Ful vnseemely and vntreuli it is to seie þat [etc.]. 1551Recorde Pathw. to Knowl. i. Def., It shall not be vnsemely to call all suche shapes, formes and figures [etc.]. 1581Mulcaster Positions ii. 5 It is a thing not vnseemely for me to deale in. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. P vij, How vnhonest soeuer, or vnseemly of christian eares his argument be. a1598Rollock 1 Thess. (1606) 183 Any thing, that is vnsetting, or vnseemlie to this Christian calling. 1667Milton P.L. x. 155 Unseemly to beare rule, which was thy part.., had'st thou known thy self aright. 1843Lytton Last Bar. viii. vii, Unseemly it may be for one of your quality..to quit this place with me.
c. n. An unseemly thing.
1654Whitlock Zootomia Pref. A 7 The Candid Interpreter of modest Endeavours, not Exacter of Impossibles, or unseemlies.
2. Uncomely, unhandsome.
c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 5023 Þair bodys sal alle unsemely be, And foul, and ugly, opon to se. 1390Gower Conf. I. 96 Which of alle kinde Of wommen is thunsemlieste. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 55 The dupe dale and durke vnsemely to see to. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) iv. xxxviii. (1859) 63 He found..an old vnsemely one. I ne can nought calle hyr lady. a1513Fabyan Chron. vi. cxciv. 198 The Erle..prayed his wyfe..yt she wold..make her selfe as fowle and as vnsemely as she coude. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 114 A man of unseemlie personage. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xvii. ¶ 2 Their Faces stand closer or wider assunder, which is unseemly, when the Letter comes to be Printed. 1684J. S. Profit & Pleas. United 138 If you buy your Bees, Observe they be..Smooth and Shining; Rejecting the Rough and unsemly Ones. 1838Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 394/2 Making the vessel frightfully crank and most unseemly to look at. 1843James Forest Days ii, In other respects he was not an unseemly man. 1870Dickens E. Drood i, He lies, dressed, across a large unseemly bed.
▪ II. unˈseemly, adv.
[un-1 11. Cf. ON. úsœ́miliga (Icel. ósæm-).]
In an unseemly or unbecoming manner.
c1375Cursor M. 24504 (Fairf.), On him mi heued I shoke & saide, vn-semeli, leue sone, artow graide! a1400Morte Arth. 1044 The syghte had he rechide, How vn-semly that sott satt sowpande hym one. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. x. 207 Ellis it wolde folewe that ther yn thei diden vnaccordingli and vnsemeli. 1591Drayton Harmonie of Ch., Song of Annah 8 Nor yet vnseemly speak such things, so proud and arrogant. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. 297 English women..rode very unseemely astride, like as men doe. a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 293 In which action hee..demeaned himself..unseemly for a King. 1725Pope Odyss. i. 292 Yon' jovial Troop..Unseemly flown with insolence and wine. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. xii. 143 Ah, thought I, in my conduct has he read it,—Something immodest or unseemly free? |