retort是什么意思,retort怎么用

分类:每日一词 浏览量:15

retort

考研 CET6 SAT TEM8 GRE


📰 外刊例句

The common retort to such concerns is that humans are far more cognitively adaptable than beasts of burden. 对这类担忧最常见的反驳是人类在认知上的适应性要比役畜强得多。

—— 《经济学人》

—— 《纽约时报》


📖 基本释义

[verb] say something in answer to a remark, typically in a sharp, angry, or witty manner
[动词] 以尖锐、愤怒或机智的方式回应某个言辞


💡 深入解读

Retort 一词源自拉丁语retorquere(返回、扭回、扔回),由前缀 re (回、向后)+ 词根 tort (扭曲,作单词时指“侵权行为”)构成,16世纪中期进入英语时原指“(受伤后)以同样的方式回击”,比如以羞辱对付羞辱(retort insult for insult)。不过这个含义发展到今天则主要表示“(生气或幽默地)反驳、回嘴”,既可以作动词也可以作名词使用,多用于形容对不同意见、批评或控诉作出迅速、有力或机智的回答,

比如:

The sleek and ambitious politician retorted a question by another question.那个衣冠楚楚、野心勃勃的政客以反问答问。

I said a few words to him in retort.我顶了他几句。

另外值得注意的是, retort 同小站之前推过的fret

peer

loom

faction

swallow

staple等一样也是个同形异义词,还有一个词源不同的含义是作名词表示“曲颈甑、曲颈瓶”。


📚 名著用例

She was about to retort but something checked the words on her tongue. 她刚要抢白两句,可是话到嘴边又咽了回去。

— 出自《爱尔兰现代主义作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯(James Joyce)于1922年出版的长篇小说《尤利西斯》( Ulysses )。下载本书请点击: 原版名著下载 | 尤利西斯(Ulysses)》


🔍 同近义词

  • rejoin: return to (a companion, organization, or route that one has left)
  • riposte: make a quick, clever reply to an insult or criticism
  • return: feel, say, or do (the same feeling, action, etc.) in response
微信微博复制链接