| 释义 |
unˈthrifty, a.
[un-1 7. Cf. wanthrifty a.]
1. Producing or bringing about no advantage, profit, or gain; tending to, resulting in, or marked by thriftlessness, waste, or extravagance; unprofitable, wasteful; harmful.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 1530, I-wys my dere herte trewe We may wel stele a-way as ye deuyse And fynde swyche vnthryfty weyes newe. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2464 Rightwisnesse..out of this ile Purposeth fully for to fare & wende, So is our reule vnthrifty & vnthende. c1470Ashby Active Policy 681, I mene nat for vnthrifty Cowardise, whiche is in al Realmes abhominable. 1513Douglas æneid ix. x. 25 Quhat onthrifty God in sic foly Hes ȝou bywavyt heyr till Italy? 1529Supplic. to King (E.E.T.S.) 40 Common players at all vnthryftye games. 1579J. Northbrooke Dicing 60 b, Venerous people haue all their whole pleasance, Their vice to nourishe by this vnthriftie daunce. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 35 Full many mischiefes follow cruell Wrath;..Vnmanly murder, and vnthrifty scath. 1627Sir R. Cotton in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 471 The spending of much Munition, Victuals and Money,..is counted an unthrifty error. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §147 The Subject might be taught how unthrifty a thing it was, by too strict a detaining of what was His, to put the King as strictly to enquire what was his Own. 1652Benlowes Theoph. iii. lxvii, Unthrifty death has spread where thriving peace did range. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 226 Tough Thistles..kill'd the Corn, And an unthrifty Crop of Weeds was born. 1776Adam Smith W.N. v. ii. II. 473 They are all more or less unthrifty taxes that increase the revenue of the sovereign..at the expence of the capital of the people. 1809Malkin Gil Blas ix. vi. ⁋3 The commerce of the eyes being so unthrifty, I had recourse to different agents. 1819Scott Leg. Montrose ii, Having by unthrifty courses reduced a fair patrimony to a nonentity. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xii. 101 The rebuilding..had been possibly interrupted during the unthrifty reign of Malger.
†b. Of language: Unprofitable, idle. Obs.
c1440Alph. Tales 215 Oft sithes, with þer vnthrifti language, hym at had rewle of þaim þai provoked..to be angrie. 1467Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 172, I wolde avysse ȝowe to sese..of ȝower onthreffety langwage.
2. Not thriving or flourishing; lacking vigour or promise in growth. (Cf. thriftless a. 1.)
c1440Promp. Parv. 367/2 Onthryfty, idem quod onthende [Ibid., Onthende, invalidus]. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop iii. iii, Thynke now, how thow arte lene and vnthryfty. 1486Bk. St. Albans b vij b, Euell meetis to make her vnthrefti. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. Ep. Ded., Such an underly Shrub in Knowledge, and unthrifty Sucker in Philosophy as I am. 1709Phil. Trans. XXVI. 450 The Cow was very unthrifty, for which they gave her Cow Physick. 1796C. Marshall Gardening xii. (1813) 145 Consider the soil about an unthrifty tree. 1831Youatt Horse viii. 122 The horse will lose flesh;..his coat will be unthrifty, and readily come off. 1846Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. II. 224/1 That..we should think it expedient to plant unthrifty thorns over bitter wells of blood.
transf.1812Examiner 11 May 292/1 Poor, ill-cultivated..soils, the early appearance of which was unthrifty, show..very thin.
b. Characterized by absence of well-being; indicative of unprosperousness.
c1400Three Kings Cologne 24 Þer was nothyng left bote..a litel cave vndir erþe and a litil vnthrifti hows tofore þe cave. c1425MS. Sloane 73 fol. 201 Whanne þi bagge chaungiþ clene out of þe rede colour..in to a manere of an vnþryfty wan colour. a1450Knt. de la Tour 9 Atte the yongest doughtres hous it was turned up-so-doun, and alle unthrifti. c1529Latimer in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 1298/2 Whiche vnthriftye state that wee be borne vnto, is come vnto vs for oure owne desertes.
3. Loose or lax in respect of conduct, morals, or virtue; unchaste, wanton, profligate.
1388Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 272 Goddes dere halydayys ar noght, non observantur honeste; For onthryfty pley ys worght. a1450Knt. de la Tour 30 The good women..that hathe not take the state of the unthrifti women that bene euelle women of her body. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 558 Non shall in heuyn posses that be so vnthryfty. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccclxxxvi. 660 Suche rybaudes and vnthriftye people, as desyred nothynge but yuell and noyse. 1530in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 80 Certen onthryfty persons brekyng of the Kyngs pesse. a1571Jewel On Thess. (1583) 219 Withdrawe thy selfe from the companie, of such vnthriftie, and light, and suspected persons.
transf.c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483) ii. lvii. 55 Thou madest me to lede a ful vnthryfty lyf. 1476Stonor Papers (Camden) II. 7 Comaunde me to the Cloke [= clock], and pray hym to amend his unthryffte maners: ffor he strykes euer in vndew tyme. 1535–6Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 28 ⁋1 Reformacion of suche unthrifty carnall and abhomynable lyvyng.
4. Not thrifty, economical, or frugal; careless or improvident of one's means or substance; wasteful, extravagant, prodigal. (Cf. thriftless a. 3.)
1532G. Hervet Xenophon's Househ. 59 The grounde doth best examyne, which be good, and whiche be vnthryfty husbandes. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. (Arb.) 87 The vnthrifty heire suffereth ye houses that his father buylded.. to fall in decay. 1596Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law ii. (1635) 49 Or to be in hazard of undoing his house by unthrifty posterity. 1639J. Taylor (Water P.) Part this Summers Trav. 18 Such an unthrifty Rascall as thou will never be worth such a halter, it cost me two pence. 1662Hibbert Body Divinity i. 197 The wormes shall have his carkass, and unthrifty heires his estate. 1684J. Goodman Old Relig. 336 A querulous, uneasy, lean, hungry and unthrifty sort of people. 1780S. J. Pratt Emma Corbett (ed. 4) II. 108, I am one of those whom the world calls an unthrifty fellow. 1849Hawthorne Twice-told T. 213 Next comes a sledge, laden with wood for some unthrifty house⁓keeper. 1904Verney Mem. II. 215 Before the wine arrives, this unthrifty host discovers that he does not require it.
fig.c1600Shakes. Sonn. iv, Vnthrifty louelinesse why dost thou spend, Vpon thy selfe thy beauties legacy? 1659O. Walker Oratory 109 This ingrafting..parenthesis, if it argues a good wit, it shews a weak and unthrifty Orator. 1682A. Behn False Count ii. i, Should we be unthrifty in our loves, And for one moment's joy give all away? 1703Rowe Fair Penit. ii. i, Oh wherefore did I play th' unthrifty Fool, And wasting all on others, leave myself Without one thought of Joy to give me comfort?
absol.1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. II. xlii. 567 To insure an estate even to the sons of the unthrifty.
b. Prodigal or lavish of something; unsparing.
1620Donne Serm. (1640) 418 God is content to be told, that he is unthrifty, and prodigall of his servants lives. 1670Cotton Espernon ii. vi. 289 He was not altogether so unthrifty of his own Interest. 1713Blackmore Creation v. 243 Of light unthrifty, and profuse of day, The ruin'd globe has spent his latest ray. |