| 释义 |
improbably, adv.|ɪmˈprɒbəblɪ|
[f. prec. + -ly2.]
In an improbable manner; without likelihood.
(Usually qualifying the statement as a whole, and denoting that it is not likely to be true; now chiefly in not improbably, an expression for ‘with more or less probability’.)
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. xiii. 229 That he lived and writ in these parts, is not improbably collected from the Epistles that passed betwixt him and Artaxerxes. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. iii. Wks. (1847) 504/2 Dioneth, an imaginary king of Britain, or duke of Cornwal, who improbably sided with them against his own country. a1691Boyle (J.), He speaks very improbably. a1808Hurd Proph. App. (R.), A few years more may, not improbably, leave him without one admirer. Mod. He is coming to Oxford soon, and may not improbably call on me. |