covet是什么意思,covet怎么用

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covet

TEM8 GRE


📰 外刊例句

Western firms increasingly admire—and covet —Chinese technology. 西方公司越来越欣赏且觊觎中国的技术。

—— 《经济学人》

—— 《纽约时报》


📖 基本释义

[verb] yearn to possess or have (something)
[动词] 渴望拥有或占有(某物)


💡 深入解读

Covet 一词与小站上周五推送的covert形似,可能源自拉丁语cupere(渴望、想要),13世纪中期进入英语时原指“过分地(inordinately)或不顾他人权利地渴望或想要”,现主要作为一个正式用语表示“贪求、觊觎、垂涎”,强调过分渴望别人的东西,

比如:

She always coveted the power of veto but never quite achieved it.她一直贪求否决权,但从未得逞。

She coveted his job so blatantly that conversations between them were tense.她赤裸裸地表示想得到他的工作,以至于他们之间说话都带着火药味。

The Booker Prize is the most coveted British literary award.除了作贬义用外, covet 也可以单纯地用来表示“渴望”,只是这种渴望程度非常之高,比如:布克奖是最令人向往的英国文学奖。

The covetous man is good to none and worst to himself.另外,与 covet 相对应的形容词为 covetous (贪求的、垂涎的、渴望的),比如谚语有云:

贪心者害人尤害己。


📚 名著用例

"You are hardly the first student to covet the diadem." she said disdainfully. “你不是第一个垂涎冠冕的学生。”她轻蔑地说。

— 出自《英国作家J·K·罗琳的奇幻小说《哈利·波特》系列的第七本《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》( Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows )。《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》是整个小说系列的终结篇,交代了所有重要人物的最终命运。》


🔍 同近义词

  • fancy: feel a desire or liking for
  • desire: strongly wish for or want (something)
  • crave: feel a powerful desire for (something)
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