- 1發人深省的、引人深思的；口語裡常說「看完會讓人一直想」。注意它不等於「有趣」，多半帶有嚴肅、不輕鬆的意味。
Something thought-provoking makes you keep thinking after it is over. A film, a book, a question, a talk, an exhibition — you finish it, you walk out, and it is still turning in your head, possibly bothering you a little.
Notice what it does NOT mean. It does not mean 'interesting', and it does not mean 'good'. It is more specific and quieter than either: it means the thing raised a question you cannot put down. In fact people often reach for 'thought-provoking' precisely when they did not enjoy something but respect it — a slow, uncomfortable film, an article they disagree with. So when a calls a movie 'thought-provoking' and stops there, an English speaker often hears 'serious, worth watching, but not fun'. That gap between the polite word and what is really meant is worth knowing about.
It is an adjective. Use it before a noun ('a thought-provoking question') or after 'be' ('The ending was thought-provoking'). It has a slightly formal, written flavour — reviews, essays, school reports, book covers. Friends chatting about a film would more likely say 'it really made me think', which means the same thing in everyday clothes. Keep the : 'thought-provoking' in both positions.
組成thought + provoking. To provoke is to poke at something until it reacts — you provoke a dog, you provoke an argument. Here what is being poked into life is thought itself. The '-ing' form makes it an adjective describing what the thing does TO you.
同家族的字
- provokethe verb inside it — to stir something up so it reacts
- provocativeanother adjective from 'provoke', but that one usually means deliberately stirring up anger or desire, not thinking
- thoughtthe same 'thought', the noun for what your mind produces
原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，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。
thought-provokingadj/ˈθɔːtpɹəvəʊkɪŋ/
- 1
Interesting in a way that challenges one's beliefs, attitudes, or perspective.
- Of course, many other thought-provoking questions are possible. When using this approach, one would preplan an ending “why” question or questions. It could be some of the ones that follow or others that might be more thought-provoking or age appropriate for a particular group of children.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。