| 词组 | discomfit |
| 释义 | discomfit Several usage commentators have, in the past, tried to convince their readers that discomfit means "to rout, completely defeat" and not "to discomfort, embarrass, disconcert, make uneasy." However, most of the recent commentary agrees with the evidence we have: the sense "to discomfort, disconcert" has become thoroughly established and is the most prevalent meaning: • ... his habit of discomfiting an opponent with a sudden profession of ignorance —T. S. Eliot, "Francis Herbert Bradley," in Selected Essays, 1932 • Discomfited by Labor heckling ... , Eden lost his usual urbanity —Time, 19 Mar. 1956 • ... parents get inarticulate and discomfited when it comes to discussing love —Linda Wolfe, TV. Y. Times Book Rev., 15 Feb. 1976 • ... people like to see the pompous scientific establishment discomfited —James S. Trefil, Saturday Rev., 29 Apr. 1978 • ... he saw that his boss was discomfited and at a loss —David A. Stockman, Newsweek, 28 Apr. 1986 The use of discomfit to refer to defeat in battle is now rare, and extended uses meaning "to frustrate the plans of, thwart" are uncommon. Although, as Harper 1985 says, "discomfit has now come to be practically synonymous with 'discomfort,'" there is a difference between the two words. Discomfit is used almost exclusively as a verb (discomfiture is the related noun), while discomfort is much more commonly used as a noun than a verb. |
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