核心畫面

You can think of unrelenting as a hand that will not open. To relent is to your hold; un- takes that away, so nothing is ever let go of, not even for a second. The word is not really about how strong the grip is — it is about the fact that no gap ever appears in it, which is why the things it describes are so .

unrelenting 可以想成一隻抓著不放的手。relent 是鬆手、放軟,前面加 un- 就成了「從來不鬆手」。更多收起unrelenting 可以想成一隻抓著不放的手。relent 是鬆手、放軟,前面加 un- 就成了「從來不鬆手」。它說的重點其實不是力氣多大,而是那隻手一刻也沒有放開,所以被抓住的人連喘一口氣的縫都找不到。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary gives the word as un- + relenting, so the negative is doing all the work: not loosening, not giving way.

來源資料把這個字拆成 un- 加 relenting,意思全靠那個否定:不放軟、不讓步,也就是不鬆手。

Wiktionary (kaikki) entry for 'unrelenting' supplied in the evidence packet: 'From un- + relenting.' (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1240102407:8503)

Two branches

壓在人身上的情況

那隻不鬆開的手是天氣、工作、聲音這類東西,人只能待在裡面。

adjective · C1

Used about something unpleasant that goes on and on for a long time and never eases off, so there is no break from it.

不停歇的

不肯放軟的人

同一隻不鬆開的手,這次長在一個人身上,而且他不會因為別人難受就放開。

adjective · C1

Used about a person who keeps pushing for what they want in a determined way and never softens, without stopping to think about how other people feel.

毫不留情的