| 释义 |
▪ I. amusing, vbl. n.|əˈmjuːzɪŋ|
[f. amuse v. + -ing1.]
The action of the vb. amuse; amusement. (Now mostly gerundial.)
1603Florio Montaigne i. li. (1632) 165 See how much our mind troubleth this ridiculous ammuzing [chess]. Mod. Clever at amusing the children.
▪ II. aˈmusing, ppl. a.
[f. amuse v. + -ing2.]
†1. Beguiling; cheating. Obs.
1597Daniel Civ. Wares ii. v, Th' amuzing shadowes that are cast upon The state of Princes, to beguile the sight.
2. Engaging the mind or attention in a pleasing way; interesting. arch.
1712Addison Spect. No. 463 ⁋2 These several amusing Thoughts having taken possession of my Mind. 1714Pope Let. Jervas Wks. 1737 V. 224 The amusing power of Poetry. 1794Godwin Cal. Williams 290 The project which had formerly proved amusing to my imagination.
3. Pleasantly entertaining or diverting; exciting the risible faculty, tickling the fancy. Also, as a vogue-word in trivial applications. Also absol.
1826Disraeli Viv. Grey i. vi. 15 My dear Sir! you are pleased to be amusing this morning. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 147 His objections are highly curious and amusing. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 25 She found ridicule of Biblical characters very amusing. 1925A. Huxley Along Road iii. 200 The great invention of more recent years has been the ‘amusing’... All bad art, whose badness is a positive..quality..may be said to be amusing. 1929D. L. Moore Pandora ix. 168 ‘Amusing’..is at the moment the first favourite..‘an amusing pair of shoes’, ‘amusing little sandwiches’, ‘an amusing kind of lipstick’. 1934C. Lambert Music Ho! ii. 79 The scrapbook taste which is considered so modern and ‘amusing’ when applied to interior decoration. 1939O. Lancaster Homes Sweet Homes 62 Steel-engravings and wax fruit enjoy a come-back on an ‘amusing’ basis. 1960Times 15 Sept. 15/3 The cult of the ‘amusing’. This lethal word has been applied during the past 30 years to one art after another. From ballet to interior decoration, from the Parisian music of 1920 to objets trouvés, clever people in search of high fashion have turned amusing. |