释义 |
atrocious, a.|əˈtrəʊʃəs| [f. L. atrōci- (nom. atrox) fierce, cruel, f. āter black + -ous.] 1. Characterized by savage enormity; excessively and wantonly cruel; heinously wicked: a. of actions. b. of persons or agents.
1669Honyman Surv. Naphtali ii. 203 If it [a fault] be atrocious and landdefiling. 1772Pennant Tours Scot. (1774) 252 Here all atrocious criminals were excluded. 1833I. Taylor Fanat. vi. 21 Human nature..may become atrocious in a degree that confounds every distinction between human and diabolical wickedness. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. ii. (1879) 24 Atrocious acts which can only take place in a slave country. †2. Stern, terrible, fierce; extremely violent. Obs.
1735Thomson Liberty ii. 305 The fierce, atrocious frown of sinewed Mars. 1733Cheyne Eng. Malady i. vi. §10 Nervous Diseases..with higher, and more numerous and atrocious Symptoms. 3. colloq. Very bad, shocking, execrable.
Mod. What an atrocious pun! |