小词详解 | turbulent

turbulent 英 [ˈtɜːbjələnt] 美 [ˈtɜːrbjələnt]

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外刊例句

• Statistical agencies do their best to account for changing product quality, but if adjustments are unexpectedly common or subtle then muted inflation figures could easily be concealing a more turbulent economic picture.
  统计机构竭力解释产品质量为何出现变化，但如果调整出人意料地普遍或难以觉察，那么温和的通胀数据很容易掩盖更为动荡的经济形势。
  ——《经济学人》
• Even in a country as turbulent as Egypt is today, some traditions transcend the sharpest divisions and provide brief periods of calm.
  即使是在今天的埃及这样一个动荡的国家，一些传统还是超越了最尖锐的分歧，并带来了短暂的平静。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[adjective] characterized by conflict, disorder, or confusion; not controlled or calm
[形容词] 以冲突、凌乱或混乱为特点的；不受控制或不平静的

深入解读

Turbulent 一词源自拉丁语 turba （混乱、人群），15世纪初进入英语后开始用来指人“骚动的、混乱而难以控制的”，比如：

• 警察挥舞着警棍冲入骚动的人群。
  The police waded into the turbulent crowd with batons.

这个概念发展到现在，更多的是用 turbulent 泛指某个时期、地方或关系等“动荡的、动乱的、骚动的、混乱的”，通常充满着很多突然的变化、争论、分歧，甚至是暴力，比如：

• 一场乱七八糟、吵吵嚷嚷、争夺激烈的选举收场了。
  A turbulent, strident and bitterly contested election has come to a close.
• 这对分居的夫妇在一起生活了五六年，一直吵吵闹闹，分分合合，没有片刻安宁。
  The estranged couple had been together for five or six turbulent years of rows and reconciliations.

等到了16世纪70年代后， turbulent 又开始用来形容气流或水流等“汹涌的、湍急的、猛烈的”，强调运动非常强烈且方向改变突然，比如：

• 大海太汹涌了，我们无法驾船出海。否则船将在波涛起伏的海浪中剧烈摇摆。
  The ocean was too turbulent for us to be able to take the boat out. Otherwise the boat would roll heavily in the troughs between the waves.

权威用例

从上海石库门到嘉兴南湖，一艘小小红船承载着人民的重托、民族的希望，越过急流险滩，穿过惊涛骇浪，成为领航中国行稳致远的巍巍巨轮。
From Shikumen in Shanghai to the South Lake in Jiaxing City, the small red boat (where the first CPC congress concluded) bore the great trust of the people and the hope of the nation. The boat has sailed through turbulent rivers and treacherous shoals, and has voyaged across violent tidal waves, becoming a great ship that navigates China's stable and long-term development.

出自习主席2021年新年贺词。

同近义词

• stormy: full of angry or violent outbursts of feeling
• tempestuous: characterized by strong and turbulent or conflicting emotion
• tumultuous: excited, confused, or disorderly

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