小词详解 | spurn

spurn 英 [spɜːn] 美 [spɜːrn]

SAT

外刊例句

• In his opinion even these phone cameras are far too thick (witness the optical bump on the back of most mobile phones), so he and his team plan to replace them with truly minuscule devices that spurn every aspect of current photographic technology.
  在他看来，手机里的相机还是太厚了（大多数手机背后凸起的镜头便是证明），所以他和他的团队计划以真正微型的设备取代这些旧组件，摒弃现有摄影技术的方方面面。
  ——《经济学人》

• Many Chinese spurn Big Macs for more traditional – and cheaper – fare.
  很多中国人拒绝吃巨无霸，转而选择更传统且更便宜的食物。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[verb] reject with disdain or contempt
[动词] 不屑或轻蔑地拒绝

深入解读

Spurn 一词源自古英语 spurnan （踢开、打击；拒绝、蔑视、轻视），最初也用来表示“践踏、一脚踢开”等含义，不过都已过时不再流行。

现在主要使用 spurn 表示“轻蔑地拒绝”或者说“摒弃、唾弃”，侧重强调在拒绝中带有较强的不屑和轻蔑，比如：

• 她是个适应力强的女孩。她傲然拒绝了我的帮助。
  She was a resilient girl. She spurned my offers of help.

• 在阴冷的冬日里，这个遭到轻蔑拒绝的痴心爱慕者从拉小提琴中获得了极大的乐趣。
  The spurned lover derived great pleasure from playing the violin in the bleak winter.

名著用例

She sent a man who had long loved me, though I spurned his advances, to find me.
她派了一个男人来找我，那人一直爱着我，尽管我一口回绝过他的追求。

出自英国作家J·K·罗琳的奇幻小说《哈利·波特》系列的第七本《哈利·波特与死亡圣器》（Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows）。

同近义词

• scorn: reject (something) in a contemptuous way

• rebuff: reject (someone or something) in an abrupt or ungracious manner

往期回顾