| 释义 |
mealy-mouthed, a.|ˈmiːlɪˈmaʊðd|
[Cf. mealy a. 8.]
Soft-spoken; not outspoken; afraid to speak one's mind or to use plain terms.
c1572Gascoigne Fruites Warre lxxxvi, So were more meete for mealy mouthed men. 1606Day Ile of Guls iv. iv, And ile not be mealely mouthed, I warrant em. 1679‘T. Ticklefoot’ Trial Wakeman 7 He was not mealy mouth'd, but would..have talked his mind to Knights, or any Body. 1788Wesley Wks. (1872) VII. 106 Carry your point, whatever it costs. Be not mealy-mouthed. 1855Tennyson Brook 94 Mealy-mouth'd philanthropies. 1887Besant The World went xvi. 138 None of your mincing, mealy-mouthed, fine ladies.
¶ Used for: Over scrupulous.
1809Malkin Gil Blas xii. xiv, You are not mealy-mouthed about receiving a commoner into your pedigree.
Hence mealy-mouthedly adv., mealy-mouthedness.
1727Bailey vol. II, Mealy-mouthedness. 1838Southey Doctor (1848) 382 He is not given to speak, as his friends the Portuguese say, enfarinhadamente—which is, being interpreted, mealy-mouthedly. 1894Sat. Rev. 24 Mar. 304 School Boards and other engines of mealy-mouthedness have laid a ban upon some of our old plant names. |