- 1
Something sinister makes you feel that something evil, dangerous, or against the law is happening, or is about to happen. A sinister smile, a sinister van on an empty road, a sinister silence — the word names the chill, not a proven crime. Though actually, it does not always mean the person is evil; it means the person or the place feels that way. A dark playground at night can be sinister even when nothing is wrong. It is a common word in stories and news, and most speakers know it. It is stronger than odd or strange: odd can be funny, but sinister leans toward threat.
不祥的;陰森的(讓人覺得不太對勁、像有壞事要發生)
組成From Middle English sinistre, “unlucky,” from Old French senestre / sinistre, “left,” from Latin sinister, “left hand.” In Latin, the left side was also the unlucky side, so the word slowly came to mean a dark, threatening feeling. It has nothing to do with left-handed people today.
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
sinisteradj/ˈsɪ.nɪ.stə/
- 1
Inauspicious, ominous, unlucky, illegitimate.
- bar sinister
- All the several ills that visit earth / Brought forth by night, with a sinister birth.
- 2
Evil or seemingly evil; indicating lurking danger or harm.
- sinister influences
- the sinister atmosphere of the crypt
- 3
archaicOf the left side.
- my Mothers bloud / Runs on the dexter checke, and this ſiniſter / Bounds in my fathers:
- His ſicatrice, with an Embleme of warre, heere on his ſiniſter cheeke;
- 4
archaicgovernmentheraldryhobbiesOf the left side.
- The shield was divided into five, with two coats of arms on the dexter side (the right-hand side from the point of view of the bearer of the shield)—London and Southampton—and three on the sinister side—Salisbury, Winchester and Portsmouth.
- 5
obsoleteWrong, as springing from indirection or obliquity; perverse; dishonest.
- Nimble and sinister tricks and shifts.
- He scorns to undermine another's interest by any sinister or inferior arts.
資料來源:英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary(CC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。