| 释义 |
skittish, a.|ˈskɪtɪʃ|
Also 6 skyttys(s)he, skytysshe, scittish.
[Of obscure origin: perh. f. a Scand. base *skyt- (see skit v.2) + -ish.]
1. Of disposition, etc.: Characterized by levity, frivolity, or excessive liveliness.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 590 Whan þat þou hast assayde boþe two, Sad age, I seye, after þi skittish youþe. 14..Six Ballads (Percy Soc.) 10 My dere is off a skyttyshe brayne. a1513Fabyan Chron. vii. (1811) 339 Lewelyn..rebellyd agayne the kyng; for so moche as syr Edwarde his sone..wolde haue chaungyd some of theyr skyttyshe condycyons. 1594T. B. La Primaud. ii. 230 Fancie, being very turbulent and skittish,..is the cause that wee liue in the middest of marueilous troubles in respect of our affections. 1611Cotgr., Perversité, a skittish, giddy, or vntoward humor to doe an vnlawfull, or ill, thing. 1678Butler Hud. iii. ii. 479 He still resolv'd..T' adhere and cleave the obstinater; And still the skittisher and looser Her Freaks appear'd, to sit the closer. 1748Richardson Clarissa II. 135 If you think you can part with her for her skittish tricks. 1784Cowper Task ii. 470 T' address The skittish fancy with facetious tales. 1882Tennyson in Life (1897) I. 95, I considered it [a critique] at the time as somewhat too skittish and petulant. 1894J. Knight Garrick iv. 68 Macklin claims to have supplied a curiously unconventional and skittish rhymed apology.
Comb.1605Breton Soules Immortal Crowne i. xlii, How Fancie like a Flea, Can skip about a skittish humour'd hart.
2. Of horses, etc.: Disposed or apt to start or be unruly without sufficient cause; given to shying or restiveness through high spirits or playfulness; unduly lively or spirited.
c1510More Picus Wks. 14/2 These great fortunes lift vp a man hie,..but oftentymes, as a fierce and a skittish horse, thei cast of their maister. 1519W. Horman Vulg. 37, I had a sore falle of a skytysshe horse. 1635Jackson Creed viii. xviii. 202 The old asse..became resty and skittish, ready to kick. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. ii. 178 Great is the difference betwixt a swift horse, and a skittish, that will stand on no ground. 1707tr. Wks. C'tess D'Anois (1715) 638 The skittish Beast being affrighted..gave two Starts and threw the Prince to the Ground. 1758Johnson Idler No. 33 ⁋24 Horse skittish and wants exercise. 1801M. Edgeworth Fr. Governess Wks. 1832 II. 138 The ass is sometimes skittish and playful. 1882B. D. W. Ramsay Rough Recoll. I. i. 8 A very skittish, and at times vicious, thoroughbred colt.
fig. and transf.1655Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. 370 These skittish Lands will dismount all that bestride them. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. lvi. 208 Balancing our skittish bark upon the green waters.
b. Similarly of other animals.
1600Maids Metam. i. i, A heard of skittish Deere. 1639Fuller Holy War 198 A trick to stroke the skittish cow to get down her milk. 1837Hood Ode to R. Wilson 241 Exactly as a skittish Scottish bull Hunts an old woman in a scarlet cloak.
3. Fickle, inconstant, changeable; tricky, difficult to deal with or manage.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 18 Such as I am, all true Louers are, Vnstaid and skittish in all motions else. 1606― Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 134 How some men creepe in skittish fortunes hall. 1639Hammond Serm. Wks. 1683 IV. 547 What skittish things popular benevolence and popular applause have been always found to be. 1844N. P. Willis The Lady Jane ii. 411 A ‘scribbler's’ is a skittish reputation. 1872Geo. Eliot Middlem. xv, The management and training of the most skittish or vicious diseases.
4. Spirited, active, lively; frolicsome.
a1592Greene Jas. IV, iv. iii, She is like a frog in a parsley-bed, As skittish as an eel. 1619Fletcher Wildgoose Chase ii. iii, He slights us As skittish things... May be my free behaviour turns his stomach. 1665Pepys Diary 26 July, [He] is the most skittish leaping gallant that ever I saw, always in action. 1709Prior Let. to Sir T. Hanmer 4 Aug., If you hear of a Welch widow..that has her goings and is not very skittish. 1813H. & J. Smith Home in London 131 One night at the British, We grew rather skittish, And sallied out fighting the rabble. 1887Jessopp Arcady v. 166 Sobriety of dress must be enforced, and skittish widows protected from their own volatile tastes.
5. Inclined to show coyness or reserve.
1648Merc. Publicus No. 2 ⁋9 The Irish wench hee thought to hold By force, but she was skittish. 1700Dryden Ovid's Art Love i. 822 Name not yourself her Lover, but her Friend. How many skittish Girls have thus been caught? 1774J. Adams Fam. Lett. (1876) 42 They are, therefore, jealous of each other—fearful, timid, skittish. 1840Mrs. Trollope Widow Married ii, So skittish that she would never let one speak to her. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xxi. iv. (1872) X. 31 Kaunitz and his Empress are extremely skittish in the matter, and as if quite refuse it at first. |