| 释义 |
obsequious, a.|əbˈsiːkwɪəs|
[ad. L. obsequiōs-us compliant, obedient, f. obsequium obsequy1: cf. F. obsequieux, -euse (15–16th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. Compliant with the will or wishes of another, esp. of a superior; prompt to serve, please, or follow directions; obedient; dutiful. Now rare.
a1450Mankind (Brandl 1898) 4 Owur obsequyouse seruyce to hym xulde be aplyede. 1530Tindale Pract. Prelates Wks. (1573) 368/1 Was no man so obsequyous and seruiceable. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 2, I see you are obsequious in your loue. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 10 Light issues forth, and at the other dore Obsequious darkness enters. a1703Burkitt On N.T., Mark xi. 6 The most unruly and untrained creatures become obsequious to Christ. a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiii. V. 2. An army may be so constituted as to be..efficient against an enemy, and yet obsequious to the civil magistrate.
†b. Through association with obsequy2: Dutiful in performing funeral obsequies or manifesting regard for the dead; proper to obsequies. Obs.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. v. iii. 152 Stand all aloofe, but Vnkle draw you neere, To shed obsequious teares vpon this Trunke. 1602― Ham. i. ii. 92 The Suruiuer bound In filiall Obligation..To do obsequious Sorrow. c1674Inscr. Kingswood Ch. in Gentl. Mag. LXX. i. 39/1 In memory of his deere Father..His obsequious son Richard Webb set up this monument.
2. Unduly or servilely compliant; ignobly submissive; manifesting or characterized by servile complaisance; fawning, cringing, sycophantic.
1602Marston Ant. & Mel. i. Wks. 1856 I. 11 With most obsequious sleek-brow'd intertain. 1670Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 351 The House was thin and obsequious. 1720Swift Fates Clergymen, He had now acquired a low, obsequious, aukward bow. 1848Dickens Dombey i, Following him out, with most obsequious politeness.
Comb.1889R. Brydall Art Scot. vii. 131 The timid, insignificant, and obsequious-looking pock-pitted youth.
†b. transf. of a plant: ‘Creeping’. Obs.
1657Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 268 Its root emits many crass, obsequious branches. |