| 释义 |
visionary, a. and n.|ˈvɪʒənərɪ|
[f. vision n. + -ary. Cf. F. visionnaire, It., Sp., Pg. visionario.]
A. adj.
1. Able or accustomed to see visions; capable of receiving impressions, or obtaining knowledge, by means of visions.
1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxvi. 231 Such quarrells amongst the Visionary Prophets. 1697Dryden æneid iii. 576 Thus, many not succeeding, most upbraid The madness of the visionary maid. a1721Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) I. 79 So visionary brains ascend the sky, While on the ground entranc'd the wretches lie. 1771Beattie Minstr. i. xxix, See, in the rear of the warm sunny shower The visionary boy from shelter fly. 1792S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 161 What spells entrance my visionary mind. 1817Scott Harold v. xvii, O, think upon the words of fear Spoke by that visionary Seer. 1850A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 383 And as she grew up, she became a strange, solitary, visionary child, to whom a unseen world had revealed itself. 1883F. Galton Hum. Faculty (1910) 125 A large natural gift of the visionary faculty might become characteristic..of certain families.
b. Given to fanciful and unpractical views; having little regard to what is actual or possible; speculative, dreamy.
1727Swift Let. Eng. Tongue Wks. 1755 II. i. 183 Supplying our wants, faster than the most visionary projector can adjust his schemes. 1770Burke Pres. Discont. Wks. 1842 I. 124 If a man happens not to succeed in such an enquiry, he will be thought weak and visionary. 1786–7Bonnycastle Astron. i. 17 We laugh at the absurdities of a visionary pretender. 1817W. Brougham in Parl. Deb. 298 Mr. Spence, the visionary author of the new system, lived 20 years ago. 1827Lytton Falkland i. 13, I grew by degrees of a more thoughtful and visionary nature. 1902W. L. Mathieson Politics & Relig. Scot. I. iii. 100 Knox was no visionary enthusiast.
2. Of the nature of a vision; presented or apprehended in a vision. Cf. visional 2.
1648Boyle Seraph. Love xvi. (1700) 103 The sole Hymn (except a Visionary one) I find recorded of the Celestial Quire, was sung for a Blessing to Mankind. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 656 Some things like Visionary flights appear; The Spirit caught him up, the Lord knows where, And [etc.]. a1701Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1721) 80 Which, they say, is the Mountain into which the Devil took our Blessed Saviour, when he tempted him with that visionary scene of all the Kingdoms and Glories of the World. 1720Welton Suffer. Son of God I. viii. 161 These Divine Illapses of Revelation, which become Visionary in our Sleep. 1784Cowper Task v. 400 There, like the visionary emblem seen By him of Babylon, life stands a stump. 1838Mrs. Browning Seraphim i. 205 One of those Whom the loving Father chose, In visionary pomp to sweep O'er Judæa's grassy places.
b. Seen only in a vision; unreal, non-existent, phantom, spectral.
1697Dryden æneid ii. 365, I wept to see the visionary man, And, while my trance continued, thus began. 1700― Theod. & Hon. 280 The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely bayed; The Hunter close pursu'd the visionary Maid. 1725Pope Odyss. x. 633 Sudden shall skim along the dusky glades Thin airy shoals, and visionary shades. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxviii. (1787) III. 619 The visionary fabric melted into air. 1820Lamb Elia i. South-sea House, The shade of some dead accountant, with visionary pen in ear, would flit by me, stiff as in life. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xiv, There was not a corner or nook..where those fairy footsteps had not glided, and that visionary golden head..fleeted along. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. viii, By what visionary hands she was led along upon that journey to escape from the Samaritan.
c. Connected with, or pertaining to, visions.
1727–46Thomson Summer 556 Here frequent, at the visionary hour, When musing midnight reigns, or silent noon, Angelic harps are in full concert heard. 1775Adair Amer. Ind. 313 Having intimidated themselves apart from the rest, with visionary notions. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xxxi, Meanwhile, this mysterious visionary traffic had its usual effect, in unsettling Miss Ashton's mind.
d. Disturbed by visions.
1807J. Barlow Columb. i. 49 When from a visionary short repose, That nursed new cares and temper'd keener woes, Columbus woke.
3. Existing in imagination only; imaginary; not actual or real.
1725Pope Odyss. iv. 246 Vanish'd are all the visionary joys. 1745J. Mason Self Knowl. i. xiv. (1853) 105 Suffer not your Thoughts..to give you a visionary Pleasure in the Prospect of what you have not the least Reason to hope. 1798S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. II. 308 So deep a hold had this..visionary delight taken on Emily, that the days hung heavily with her. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 364 With the consolidation of the supremacy, the apprehension of its visionary evils recurred. a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiii. (1861) V. 11 The danger which seemed so terrible to many honest friends of liberty he did not venture to pronounce altogether visionary. 1876Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly i, The power of the penniless twins was a shadowy and visionary thing.
b. Of schemes, plans, etc.: Incapable of being carried out or realized; purely ideal or speculative; fantastic, unpractical.
1727Swift Modest Proposal Wks. 1755 II. ii. 67 Vain, idle, visionary thoughts. 1751Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift (1752) 75 A miserable example of an ill-spent life, fantastic wit, visionary schemes, and female weakness. 1777Robertson Hist. Amer. v. (1778) II. 130 The crews of three of his ships..insisted on relinquishing the visionary project of a desperate adventurer. 1815Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. IX. i. 77 Those [opinions] of the ancients appear to be either visionary or erroneous. 1834Marryat P. Simple xlvi, These were wild and visionary notions, and with little chance of ever arriving at any successful issue. 1855Brewster Newton I. xi. 265 Kepler abandoned for a while his visionary speculations. 1883Manch. Exam. 30 Oct. 5/5 The quiet of the land is being disturbed to suit the visionary theories of well-meaning but unpractical men.
c. Characterized by fantasy or imagination without corresponding reality.
1777J. Richardson Dissert. East. Nations 3 On this visionary field, learned and pious men have disputed with much want of temper. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxx, Emily sought to lose the sense of her own cares, in the visionary scenes of the poet. 1840Thirlwall Greece VII. lvi. 141 Lycurgus..had not learnt..to withdraw from active life into a visionary world. 1863Kinglake Crimea I. 228 If Louis Napoleon was going to be content with a visionary life [etc.]. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. v. 194 [He] sought refuge from the hard facts of commonplace life by retiring into a visionary world.
4. Pertaining to (physical or mental) vision.
1814Wordsw. Excurs. iv. 111 It may be allowed me to remember What visionary powers of eye and soul In youth were mine.
B. n.
1. One who has visions; one to whom unknown or future things are revealed in visions.
1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Visionary, one that is subject to Dreams, silly Notions and extravagant Fancies; a fantastical Pretender to Visions and Revelations. 1711Addison Spect. No. 56 ⁋3 One of their Countrymen descended in a Vision to the great Repository of Souls... The Visionary..arrived at length on the Confines of this World of Spirits. 1778T. Hartley Pref. Swedenborg's ‘Heaven & Hell’ p. xi, Of such honourable repute was the name Seer, or visionary, in those times. 1830Scott Demonol. i. 6 It becomes almost in vain to argue with the visionary against the reality of his dream. 1850A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 253 On one side kneels the visionary, with features wan and worn. 1870Baldw. Brown Eccl. Truth 262 Forms of perfect beauty and purity, of which the keenest visionary has had but feeble dreams.
2. One who indulges in fantastic ideas or schemes; an unpractical speculator or enthusiast.
1702Addison Dial. Medals i. (1726) 28 This science has its visionaries as well as all others. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. p. xii, We must therefore respect the Man, even while we smile at the Visionary. 1834H. Martineau Demerara x. 122 He had laid his accounts for being treated as a visionary, and for his own plans being laughed at as absurd. 1868Peard Waterfarm. xiv. 140 The agriculturist..will not be deemed a visionary, because he calculates on the coming harvest with certainty. 1880Howells Undisc. Country v, He's a visionary, but he's a good man. |