Behaving in a calm, polite way — not rude, not noisy, not rough. It is used most about children, students, and animals: a well-behaved class, a well-behaved dog.

Behaving in a calm, polite way表現得冷靜、有禮貌 not rude, not noisy, not rough不粗魯、不吵鬧、不粗暴。 It is used most about children, students, and animals最常用來形容小孩、學生和動物 a well-behaved class, a well-behaved dog例如a well-behaved class（乖巧的班級）、a well-behaved dog（乖巧的狗）。

Used about an adult it usually sounds a little funny or ironic, because we expect adults to behave anyway: 'the guests were surprisingly well-behaved' hints that you thought they might not be.

Used about an adult用在大人身上時 it usually sounds a little funny or ironic通常聽起來有點好笑或帶點諷刺 because we expect adults to behave anyway因為我們本來就期待大人會守規矩 'the guests were surprisingly well-behaved' hints that you thought they might not be「the guests were surprisingly well-behaved」（客人們出乎意料地很乖）暗示你原本以為他們不會這麼乖。

Two things worth noticing. First, it is mostly praise coming from someone with authority looking down — a teacher, a parent, a host. That is why it can sting when said about a grown person; it puts them in the position of a child.

Two things worth noticing有兩件事值得注意。 First第一 it is mostly praise coming from someone with authority looking down這通常是一種由上而下的稱讚 a teacher, a parent, a host像是老師、家長，或主人。 That is why it can sting when said about a grown person這就是為什麼用在成年人身上會刺人 it puts them in the position of a child因為這把對方擺在小孩的位置上。

Second, English also uses it in a slightly technical way for things that are not people at all: scientists and programmers speak of a 'well-behaved function' or 'well-behaved code', meaning it does what it is supposed to do without surprises. Same idea, no politeness involved.

Second第二 English also uses it in a slightly technical way for things that are not people at all英文也會用在完全不是人的東西上，帶點技術性的意味 scientists and programmers speak of a 'well-behaved function' or 'well-behaved code'科學家和工程師會說a 'well-behaved function'（表現良好的函式）或'well-behaved code'（表現良好的程式碼） meaning it does what it is supposed to do without surprises意思是它會照該有的方式運作，不會出什麼意外。 Same idea, no politeness involved概念一樣，但和禮貌無關。

Keep the hyphen before a noun ('a well-behaved boy'); after the verb it is often written open ('the children were well behaved').

Keep the hyphen before a noun放在名詞前面時要保留連字號 ('a well-behaved boy')（例如'a well-behaved boy'） after the verb it is often written open放在動詞後面時通常不加連字號 ('the children were well behaved')（例如'the children were well behaved'）。