| 释义 |
useless, a.|ˈjuːslɪs|
[f. use n. + -less.]
1. Of things, actions, etc.: Destitute of useful qualities; serving no good end or profitable purpose; not answering or promoting the proposed or desired end; unserviceable, ineffectual, inutile.
In frequent use from c 1650.
1593Shakes. Lucr. 859 The aged man..like still-pining Tantalus..sits, And useless barns the harvest of his wits. a1623Fletcher Love's Cure i. i, Let your deeds Make answer to me: useless are all words Till you have writ performance with your swords. 1645Stapylton tr. Musæus C 3 b, The giddy Seas their uselesse drinke bestow'd. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 833 Useless to the Currier were their Hides. 1729T. Innes Crit. Essay (1879) 56 An useless as well as an endless discussion. Ibid. 206 It became quite useless towards supporting Buchanan's schemes. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. ii. (1782) I. 55 According to the useless rhetoric of that age. 1825Scott Betrothed xvii, He..fell..ere Raoul could afford him his support, useless as that might have proved. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 271 The six thousand waggons which had accompanied the French army were useless. 1890Retrospect Med. CII. 177 Physicians, almost without exception, give nearly useless doses of arsenic.
absol.1836–7Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. i. (1859) I. 4 What is a utilitarian? Simply one who prefers the Useful to the Useless. 1838Penny Cycl. XI. 345/2 To distinguish good from evil, the useful from the useless.
b. For which there is no present use.
1745Transl. & Paraphr. 50 They'll lay the useless Trumpet by, and study War no more.
2. Of persons: Destitute of competence or capacity; of inadequate or insufficient ability; inefficient.
1670Covel in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 135 With great courage..[he] turn'd upon the Rogues, who were uselesse, and thought they had him safe. 1710W. King Heathen Gods & Heroes vi. (1722) 12 [Prometheus] brought Men out from the Caves where they liv'd useless, and like Beasts. 1783Burke Rep. Aff. India Wks. 1842 II. 52 That Mr. Hastings..had recalled a useless officer. 1810Crabbe Borough xx. 331, I lost my sight, and my employment gone, Useless I live. 1840Thirlwall Greece VII. 180 He..sent the baggage and all his useless people to Melitæe. 1855Longfellow Hiaw. x. 29 Bring not here a useless woman. |