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单词 apogean
释义

apogee

noun

apo·​gee ˈa-pə-(ˌ)jē How to pronounce apogee (audio)
1
: the point in the orbit of an object (such as a satellite) orbiting the earth that is at the greatest distance from the center of the earth
also : the point farthest from a planet or a satellite (such as the moon) reached by an object orbiting it compare perigee
2
: the farthest or highest point : culmination
Aegean civilization reached its apogee in Crete.
apogean
ˌa-pə-ˈjē-ən How to pronounce apogee (audio)
adjective

Illustration of apogee

Illustration of apogee
  • apogee 1

Did you know?

Of Apogees, Climaxes, and Culminations

Apogee is often used in its figurative sense, signifying the high point of a career, endeavor, or state (“she was at the apogee of her profession”). This meaning developed as a metaphorical extension of the word’s astronomical sense, denoting the farthest distance from earth of an object orbiting the planet.

A number of other English words that are synonymous with apogee have followed a similar path of figurative development from a technical meaning. Climax (“the most interesting and exciting part of something”) came into English as a term for a series of phrases arranged in ascending order of rhetorical forcefulness. And, very much like apogee, culmination (“the final result of something”) is also rooted in astronomy: it originally referred to the highest point a celestial body reaches in its daily revolution (for example, the sun’s height at noon).

Synonyms

  • acme
  • apex
  • capstone
  • climax
  • crescendo
  • crest
  • crown
  • culmination
  • head
  • height
  • high noon
  • high-water mark
  • meridian
  • ne plus ultra
  • noon
  • noontime
  • peak
  • pinnacle
  • sum
  • summit
  • tip-top
  • top
  • zenith
See all Synonyms & Antonyms

Example Sentences

shag carpeting reached the apogee of its popularity in the 1970s but is now considered outdated
Recent Examples on the Web Some of its members, such as Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, appear willing to narrow or overturn most of the major precedents from the Warren Court era in the 1950s and 1960s, which was the apogee of liberal influence on the high court. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 7 Apr. 2022 The suborbital launch on a Black Brant sounding rocket reached an apogee of 243 km. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 8 July 2022 When the moon reaches its closest point to Earth, this is called perigee; its furthest point from Earth is known as apogee. Meghan Willcoxon, Journal Sentinel, 12 July 2022 The Spanish-language department of the BBC was then at its apogee, populated by luminaries from the expatriate community of Iberian writers and poets. The New Yorker, 16 May 2022 The film marks the apogee of Eastwood and Leone spaghetti western cinema. Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 23 May 2022 Just remember that glass lenses, still the apogee of optics, are not meant for impact sports. Mike Steere, Outside Online, 27 May 2022 In its understated way, this can be read as the apogee of the bildungsroman traced by Gunn’s poetic oeuvre, as the moment the occluded requires no agency to declare itself, and the closet is revealed without shame or obfuscation. Mark Ford, The New York Review of Books, 25 May 2022 An annular eclipse in which the Moon was at the furthest point from Earth in its orbit (the apogee) would have been of particularly long duration. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 11 Apr. 2022 See More

Word History

Etymology

French apogée, from New Latin apogaeum, from Greek apogaion, from neuter of apogeios, apogaios far from the earth, from apo- + gē, gaia earth

First Known Use

1640, in the meaning defined at sense 2

apogean

adjective

as in crestal

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
  • crestal
  • highest
  • culminating
  • apocalyptic
  • meridian
  • crowning
  • high
  • apical
  • fateful
  • climactic
  • crossover
  • critical
  • climacteric
  • cataclysmal
  • apocalyptical
  • crucial
  • epochal
  • payoff
  • momentous
  • vital
  • life-or-death
  • earthshaking
  • watershed
  • decisive
  • pivotal
  • life-and-death
  • deciding
  • cataclysmic
  • go-no-go
  • make-or-break

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

  • anticlimactical
  • unimportant
  • trivial
  • anticlimactic
  • inconsequential
  • insignificant
  • indecisive
  • noncritical
See More
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更新时间:2024/9/20 19:29:57