| 释义 |
ludicrous, a.|ˈl(j)uːdɪkrəs|
[f. L. lūdicr-us (app. evolved from the neut. n. lūdicrum sportive performance, stage-play, f. lūdĕre to play) + -ous.]
†1. Pertaining to play or sport; sportive; intended in jest, jocular, derisive. Obs.
1619Gataker Lots iii. 34 Easty onely maketh foure sorts; diuine..; diabolicall..; politicall..; ludicrous, for sport and pastime. 1653Ashwell Fides Apost. 25 Both in ludicrous toyes, as in Childrens sports, and in weightier matters. 1664H. More Myst. Iniq. xiii. 44 But he rewarding my blind devotion with a ludicrous blessing and loud laughter, I presently found my errour. 1668–83Owen Expos. Heb. (1790) IV. 281 It is not a ludicrous contest that we are called to, but it is for our lives and souls. 1709J. Johnson Clergym. Vade M. ii. 174 [tr. Canons of Carthage lxvi] If any one desire to forsake any Ludicrous Exercise [i.e. any theatrical or gladiatorial employment], and become a Christian. 1779–81Johnson L.P., Pope, The ‘Rape of the Lock’..is universally allowed to be the most attractive of all ludicrous compositions.
†2. Given to jesting; trifling, frivolous; also, in favourable sense, witty, humorous. Obs.
1687H. More Contn. Remark. Stor. (1689) 428 But to entangle things thus is an usual feat of these ludicrous Spirits. 1711Addison Spect. No. 191 ⁋1 Some ludicrous Schoolmen have put the Case, that if an Ass were placed between two Bundles of Hay [etc.]. 1736Butler Anal. ii. vi, Men may indulge a ludicrous turn so far as to lose all sense of conduct and prudence in worldly affairs. 1778R. Lowth Transl. Isa. (ed. 12) Notes 332 A heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has..given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received. 1792Cowper Let. to T. Park 27 Apr., The man is as formidable for his ludicrous talent, as he has made himself contemptible by his use of it. 1827Burton's Anat. Mel. (ed. 13) Advt. 7 The ludicrous Sterne has interwoven many parts of it [Burton's ‘Anatomy’] into his own popular performance.
3. Suited to occasion derisive laughter; ridiculous, laughably absurd. (The only current sense.)
1782F. Burney Cecilia ii. iii, The ludicrous mixture of groups, kept her attention unwearied. 1813Shelley Q. Mab vi. 64 How ludicrous the priest's dogmatic roar! 1834Macaulay Pitt Ess. (1887) 321 The Duke was in a state of ludicrous distress. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 380 Plato delights to exhibit them [Sophists] in a ludicrous point of view. 1898F. T. Bullen Cruise Cachalot xxiii. (1900) 298 This subdivision was often carried to ludicrous lengths. 1901N. Munro in Blackw. Mag. May 659/2 Count Victor stood before him a ludicrous figure.
4. absol. (in senses 2 and 3).
1798Ferriar Illustr. Sterne i. 7 The ludicrous, by its nature, tends to exaggeration. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. iv. 36 The ludicrous has its place in the universe. 1884Yates Recoll. I. 67 A bright charming fellow,..with a real appreciation of the ludicrous. |