小词详解 | outrageous

outrageous 英 [aʊtˈreɪdʒəs] 美 [aʊtˈreɪdʒəs]

TEM8 GMAT

外刊例句

• CEOs had an uneasy relationship with President Trump, many distancing themselves from his most outrageous pronouncements and tut-tutting about protectionism, even as they enjoyed his more conventional policies.
  特朗普在任时，企业老板们和这位总统的关系尴尬，他们很享受他那些更偏保守的政策，但同时许多人会跟他的出格言论保持距离，对他的保护主义做派发出啧啧不满声。
  ——《经济学人》
• But eventually I had to admit to myself that the comparison to a police state isn't quite as outrageous as it once seemed.
  但最终我不得不内心承认，与警察国家的比较并不像以前看起来那么离谱。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[adjective] shockingly bad or excessive
[形容词] 惊人地糟糕或过度的

深入解读

Outrageous 是一个与常见单词 gorgeous （非常漂亮的；令人愉快的；华丽的、绚丽的）有着相同结尾的单词，两者可以一并联想记忆。

从词源上来看， outrageous 一词源自古法语 outrageus, outrajos （无节制的、过度的、暴力的、无法无天的），最早于14世纪进入英语后也是用来表示“肆无忌惮的、毫无节制的”或“反常的、荒诞的、惊人的”，既可以指超出通常的限度而惊人地糟糕或过度的，也可以指非常规或不切合实际到了极度夸张或不可能的地步。比如：

• 大放厥词
  make outrageous statements
• 怪里怪气的服装
  outrageous clothes
• 那个能说会道的人有时候尽说些耸人听闻的事。
  The man with a facile tongue says the most outrageous things sometimes.

由于肆无忌惮反常的事物除了令人震惊以外，往往还会使人觉得难以容忍和极端粗俗无礼。因而 outrageous 自然就被用来引申指“骇人的、令人厌憎的、令人不能容忍的”以及“无耻的、无道德的、极端无礼的”，常意味着违背了正确或体面的最低标准，或者超出了某人所能承受或容忍的最大限度。比如：

• 对真相无耻的歪曲
  an outrageous distortion of truth
• 我必须为自己极端无礼的行为道歉。
  I must apologise for my outrageous behaviour.

除此之外，青少年在口语中还常用 outrageous 赞赏某个大胆或惊人之举“极棒的、极好的”。

名著用例

The young sparks, it is true, were as full of extravagancies as overgrown children: the words of their tumultuary discussions were difficultly understood and not often nice: their testiness and outrageous mots were such that his intellects resiled from: nor were they scrupulously sensible of the proprieties though their fund of strong animal spirits spoke in their behalf.
彼等荡儿实似狂妄自大之顽童，喜议论喧嚣，用语费解，且口出不逊。每闻其暴躁与寡廉鲜耻之话语，顿感愤慨。虽能以血气方刚勉强为之开脱，但如此无礼实难以忍受。

出自爱尔兰现代主义作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯（James Joyce）于1922年出版的长篇小说《尤利西斯》（Ulysses）。

同近义词

• atrocious: horrifyingly wicked
• heinous: (of a person or wrongful act, especially a crime) utterly odious or wicked
• monstrous: inhumanly or outrageously evil or wrong