好词典

blunt

UK //blʌnt//US //blʌnt//

词源

源自中古英语 blunt,可能来自古挪威语 blundr(打瞌睡),与迟钝的概念相关。14世纪开始用于描述不锋利的物体,16世纪引申出直言不讳的含义。

adjective

❶ 形容物体边缘或尖端不锋利,缺乏锐利感。也可形容人的言谈直率到显得粗鲁。

“The knife is too blunt to cut the tomato.”

(这把刀太钝了,切不动番茄。)

“She gave a blunt reply without any sugarcoating.”

(她直接给出了不加修饰的答复。)

同义词:dull, straightforward, candid

verb

❶ 使物体变钝或减弱某物的效果,也可指让人失去敏锐的感觉。

“Cutting hard materials will blunt your knife quickly.”

(切割硬质材料会很快让你的刀变钝。)

“The medication blunted his sense of pain.”

(药物减弱了他的痛感。)

同义词:dull, weaken, deaden

常见短语

blunt instrument — 指作案用的钝器,也比喻简单粗暴的解决方法。

“The murder weapon was probably a blunt instrument like a hammer.”

(凶器可能是锤子之类的钝器。)

blunt the edge — 字面指使刃口变钝,比喻削弱某事物的效力或冲击力。

“Adding too many exceptions will blunt the edge of this policy.”

(添加过多例外情况会削弱这项政策的效力。)