| 释义 |
workless, a.|ˈwɜːklɪs|
[f. work n. + -less.]
1. Doing no work; inactive, idle. Obs. or arch.
1484Caxton Fables of æsop v. ix. (1889) 150 What doo ye here, why are yow werkless? 1493[H. Parker] Dives & Pauper i. xxx. (W. de W. 1496) 69/1 Nedy werkelesse men that go so gay & spende grete. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. lxxv. 8 Wee imagin I wote not what maner of worklesse and ydle sovereintie, as though he ruled not mankynd with his power and providence. 1629C. Potter Consecration Serm. Mar. 15, 1628 77 These verball Doctors, these worklesse talkers. 1881‘Vernon Lee’ Belcaro vii. 195 Inactive, with listless limbs and workless hands.
†2. Of faith: Without works. Obs.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 529/2 A manne maye..haue the righte faythe ydle and woorkelesse. 1653Manton Exp. James ii. 14 The apostle calleth a workless faith a dead or lifeless faith.
3. Unprovided with work; having no work to do; out of work, unemployed. Often absol. with the.
1848Tait's Mag. XV. 356 The workless silence, wageless misery. 1887Pall Mall Gaz. 22 Nov. 1/1 The bitter cold of the fireless room..will wring from the workless workers a still more piteous moan. Ibid. 7 Dec. 10/2 The Workless in the Country. 1892Mrs. G. A. Sala Famous People I have met 18 The..workless weavers of the East-end.
Hence ˈworklessness, the condition of being workless; unemployment.
1883G. Macdonald Donal Grant xlii, Ye maun be growin' some short o' siller i' this time o' warklessness! 1892Toynbee Rec. Dec. 29 We are confronted this Winter with a worklessness which approaches..that of 1886. |