小词详解 | extort

extort 英 [ɪkˈstɔːt] 美 [ɪkˈstɔːrt]

SAT TEM8 GRE

外刊例句

• Or is he bluffing, to extort concessions from his neighbour and the West?
  还是说他是在虚张声势，以向邻国和西方诈取让步？
  ——《经济学人》

• Apparently she’s unacquainted with Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric and Jared, and she somehow missed that sordid chapter of Trump’s presidency in which he tried to extort the president of Ukraine and was rightly impeached for it.
  显然她不熟悉小唐纳德、伊万卡和贾里德，她也不知何故漏掉了特朗普总统任内那段肮脏的篇章，他在其间试图勒索乌克兰总统，并因此遭到正当的弹劾。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[verb] obtain (something) by force, threats, or other unfair means
[动词] 通过武力、威胁或其他不公平手段获得（某物）

深入解读

Extort 是一个与小站（微信公众号：田间小站）之前推送过的 retort 结尾相同的单词，两者同词根 tort （扭曲）。

其中， extort 由前缀 ex- （出）+ 词根 tort 构成，源自拉丁语 extorquere （强行获得，字面意思“猛扭出来”），15世纪20年代进入英语后即用来表示“敲诈、勒索”或“强夺、逼取”，多指通过武力、威胁或其他不公平或非法的手段从不情愿或抗拒的人那里获得某物，常用搭配 extort sth from sb ，比如：

• 许多参与了监管体系改革的官员向他勒索了贿赂。
  Many officials involved in the regulatory revamp extorted bribes from him.

• 他向那个脾气暴躁的老太太勒索钱财长达数年之久。这是他人生中相当臭名昭著的一段经历。
  He had been extorting money from the grumpy old lady for years. It was a rather notorious episode of his life.

名著用例

It was some time, however, before a smile could be extorted from Jane.
过了好一会儿，吉英脸上才勉强露出笑容。

出自19世纪英国小说家简·奥斯丁（Jane Austen）的代表作《傲慢与偏见》（Pride and Prejudice）。

同近义词

• coerce: persuade (an unwilling person) to do something by using force or threats

往期回顾