- 1
Vacuous means empty in the mind — showing no thought, or having no point. It works two ways. First, about things people say or make: a vacuous comment, a vacuous speech, vacuous entertainment. The words are there, the sentences are correct, but nothing is inside them.
Vacuous這個字 means指的是 empty in the mind腦袋空空 — showing no thought沒有展現出任何想法, or或 having no point沒有重點. It它 works two ways有兩種用法. First第一種, about things people say or make用在人們說的話或做的東西上: a vacuous comment一句空洞的評論, a vacuous speech一場空洞的演講, vacuous entertainment空洞的娛樂內容. The words文字 are there都在, the sentences句子 are correct都對, but但 nothing裡面什麼 is inside them都沒有.
Second, about a person's face or look: a vacuous smile, a vacuous stare. That means the face shows no thinking behind it — the lights are on, nobody is home.
Second第二種, about a person's face or look用在一個人的表情或神態上: a vacuous smile空洞的微笑, a vacuous stare呆滯的凝視. That這 means意思是 the face這張臉 shows no thinking behind it背後沒有任何思考 — the lights are on, nobody is home燈亮著,卻沒人在家(意指看似清醒卻腦袋空空).
Be careful: this is a genuine insult, harder than "silly" or "boring". Calling a person vacuous says they have nothing going on inside their head. It is the kind of word a uses about a film, or an angry writer uses about a politician. Between friends, people say "pointless", "empty", "there was nothing to it".
Be careful要小心: this這 is is a genuine insult一個真正的侮辱, harder than比 "silly"「silly」 or或 "boring"「boring」 更重. Calling a person vacuous說一個人vacuous 是在說 says they have nothing going on inside their head他們腦子裡什麼都沒有. It它 is is the kind of word一種 a reviewer影評人 uses用來評論 about a film電影, or或 an angry writer憤怒的作家 uses用來評論 about a politician政治人物 的字. Between friends朋友之間, people人們 say會說 "pointless"「pointless」, "empty"「empty」, "there was nothing to it"「there was nothing to it」.
It is formal and mostly written. And it is not about being stupid exactly — a very clever person can say something vacuous when they are avoiding a question and filling the air with pleasant noise. That gap is where the word does its best work.
It它 is is formal正式 and而且 mostly written大多用在書面. And而且 it它 is is not about being stupid exactly並不完全是在講笨 — a very clever person一個非常聰明的人 can可能 say something vacuous說出空洞的話 when當 they are avoiding a question在迴避一個問題 and而 filling the air with pleasant noise用悅耳的廢話填滿空氣時. That這個 gap落差 is is where這正是 the word這個字 does its best work發揮最大效果的地方.
組成From Latin vacuus, "empty", plus -ous, the ending that makes an adjective meaning "full of" or "having this quality": danger → dangerous, fame → famous.
原始詞典資料2 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。
vacuousadj/ˈvækju.əs/
- 1
Empty; void; lacking meaningful content.
- vacuous expression
- vacuous remark
- 2
Showing a lack of thought or intelligence; vacant.
- Near-synonym: fatuous
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。