seedy
形容词 adj.
英文释义
形容词 adj.
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Literal senses:; Containing or full of seeds.
— Pomegranates are as seedy as any fruit you are likely to see.
- Literal senses:; Seedlike; having the flavour of seeds.
- Literal senses:; Having a peculiar flavour supposed to be derived from the weeds growing among the vines; said of certain kinds of French brandy.
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Inferior in condition or quality.; Shabby, run-down, possibly connected with bad, dishonest or illegal activities, somewhat disreputable.
— Sleazy city / Seedy films / Breathing so heavy / Next to my neighbour / Let’s get acquainted
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Inferior in condition or quality.; Untidy, unkempt.
— His seedy, dirt-smudged visage caused her to look at him askance.
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Inferior in condition or quality.; Infirm, unwell, gone to seed.
— With her aching back and pronounced limp, she was feeling particularly seedy today.
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Inferior in condition or quality.; Suffering the effects of a hangover.
— After last night’s party we were all feeling pretty seedy.
词源
From Middle English sedy, equivalent to seed + -y.
The senses with negative connotation, first attested by 1725 in slang, originally especially “poor, out of money”, probably arose from the metaphor of a flower that has gone to seed, and is no longer considered beautiful. From there the word came to be used to describe unwell or past-their-prime people, and parallelly run-down places and by extension low-income or crime-affected urban areas. Compare the figurative expressions go to seed (by 1817), etc., originally in reference to plants, “cease flowering as seeds develop”.
The senses with negative connotation, first attested by 1725 in slang, originally especially “poor, out of money”, probably arose from the metaphor of a flower that has gone to seed, and is no longer considered beautiful. From there the word came to be used to describe unwell or past-their-prime people, and parallelly run-down places and by extension low-income or crime-affected urban areas. Compare the figurative expressions go to seed (by 1817), etc., originally in reference to plants, “cease flowering as seeds develop”.
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数据来源: Wiktionary