| 释义 |
meaningless, a.|ˈmiːnɪŋlɪs|
[f. meaning vbl. n.1 + -less.]
Without meaning or signification; devoid of expression; without purpose. Also, not ‘meaningful’ (cf. meaningful a. b).
1797Lamb Let. to Coleridge, Ill-digested, meaningless remarks. 1810Southey Kehama xvi. xi, Rayless eyes..Glazed, fix'd, and meaningless. 1876Fox Bourne Locke II. x. 138 Locke had a healthy contempt for the meaningless definitions..of the scholastic writers. 1890W. James Princ. Psychol. I. xvi. 676 He learned lists of meaningless syllables by heart. 1934,1942[see meaningful a.].
Hence ˈmeaninglessly adv.; ˈmeaninglessness.
1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps i. §7. 16 The expense which is sacrificed in domestic vanities, if not absolutely and meaninglessly lost..would [etc.]. 1853― Stones Ven. III. i. §39. 26 The modern decorative system..united the meaninglessness of the veined marble with the evanescence of the fresco. 1894H. Drummond Ascent Man 436 It is not the monotony of life which destroys men, but its pointlessness..its meaninglessness crushes them. |