| 释义 |
unˈworthily, adv.
[f. unworthy a., or un-1 11. Cf. MDu. onwerdichlike (Du. onwaardiglijk), MLG. unwerdichliken, MHG. unwirdec-, unwërdeclîche (G. unwürdiglich); also ON. uvirðiliga, -uliga scornfully.]
1. Without being worthy, fit, or qualified; without having sufficient merit or ability; unmeritedly.
c1290Beket 654 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 125 Luytel wuyrth ich am of holi churche wardein for-to beo, And al-so vnwurthþe⁓liche þar-to i-nome. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3037 Vnwrþyly art þou made gentyl Ȝyf þou yn wurdys and dedys be yl. a1340Hampole Psalter lxx. 1 As þai sall be [shamed] þat here vnworthily resayfes fals honurs. c1410Lanterne of Liȝt 60 Whanne þei resceyue þe sacramentis, þei gon to hem vnworþili. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. xi. 27 Whosoevere shall..drynke off the cuppe vnworthely. a1586Sidney Arcadia i. xiii, My name is Basilius, unworthily Lord of this country. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. iii. Wks. 1851 V. 96 So hee..enjoy'd unworthily the rewards of lerning and fidelity. 1849Rock Ch. of Fathers I. 269 Acknowledging that whatsoever they had, was bestowed unworthily upon each one of them by God.
2. In a manner falling short of one's worth, excellence, or merit; without contributory fault or demerit; undeservedly.
Not always clearly distinguishable from sense 3.
a1340Hampole Psalter lxxiii. 23 Rise god,..damyn þat þou ert vnworthily handelde of ill prestis. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys 25 But he and all his were murdred for theyr hyre. And nat vnworthely. 1598Yong Diana 59, I bewailed my great mishap, knowing that he, whom most of al I loued, had so vnwoorthily forgotten me. 1607E. Grimstone tr. Goulart's Mem. Hist. 327 Marryed to an honest Gentlewoman, whom he entreated most unworthily. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 83 [Nicanor] beginnes with Antiochus, sonne of Alexander, whom vnworthily he slue. 1712Steele Spect. No. 497 ⁋4 Can any thing shew your Holiness how unworthily you treat Mankind? 1784T. Twining in Recreat. & Stud. (1882) 129 The Dean and Chapter..lay all the blame on him for suffering Johnson to be so unworthily interred. 1829Sir W. Napier Penins. War II. 263 This arrangement was adopted after a struggle in the cabinet..; nevertheless, sir John Cradock was used unworthily.
b. Without sufficient appreciation; in an undervaluing or disparaging manner; derogatorily.
1599Hakluyt Voy. II. ii. 135 Either thinking too worthily of the Spaniards valure,..or too vnworthily of them that vndertooke this iourney against him. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxxi. 190 That those Philosophers, who sayd the World, or the Soule of the World was God, spake unworthily of him. 1725Broome Pope's Odyss. Notes vii. II. 150 If then we look upon the Odyssey as all fiction, we consider it unworthily. a1768Secker Serm. (1771) V. 416 Imagining that God can enjoin religious Cruelties,..is thinking..unworthily and absurdly of him.
3. In an unworthy, unbecoming, or improper manner; unbecomingly, unfitly, improperly.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 238 And þat conscience and cryst hath yknitte faste, Þei vndon it vnworthily, þo doctours of lawe. 1390Gower Conf. III. 169 Whan thou to such on as schal deie The worschipe of thi god aweie Hast yoven so unworthely. c1449Pecock Repr. iv. i. 416 Summe..vniustli and vnworthili blamen and vndirnymen the clergie. 1456Sir G. Haye Govt. Princes (S.T.S.) 82 A prince..for..lusty delytis destroyand his awin gudis unworthily. 1535Coverdale 2 Macc. v. 16 Them toke he in his hondes vnworthely, & defyled them. 1663Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxx, Thou blushest not..to think and do most unworthily, being altogether insensible of thy own Nature. a1677Barrow Serm. Wks. 1686 III. 63 In being discontented we behave our selves very unbeseemingly and unworthily. 1847Tennyson Princ. v. 177 One loves the soldier, one The silken priest of peace, one this, one that, And some unworthily. 1875Whitney Life Lang. viii. 136 The name of Georgium Sidus, with which..it was unworthily sought to flatter a monarch.
†4. With indignation or resentment. Obs. rare.
In quots. tr. L. indigne (ferens).
1382Wyclif 2 Macc. vii. 39 The kyng kyndlid with wrath,..berynge vnworthily hym self scornyd. ― Mark xiv. 4 Ther weren summe beringe vnworthily, or heuyli, with ynne hem silf. |