| 词组 | cosmetic, cosmeticize, cosmetize |
| 释义 | cosmetic, cosmeticize, cosmetize Harper 1975, 1985 in disparaging the verb cosmetize (one of those -ize verbs) seemingly bewails the fact that there is no verb derived from cosmetic to be found in unabridged dictionaries. Howard 1977 found one in the 1976 Addenda Section of Webster's Third: cosmeticize. Cosmeticize was coined in the 19th century and can also be found in the OED. It was apparently first used literally in the sense of "to apply a cosmetic to" (although the earliest—1824—cited use may be figurative), but in its modern use it is usually figurative: • Euphemism would enter in only if language ... tried to prettify or cosmeticize the effect —Robert M. Adams, in Fair of Speech, ed. D. J. Enright, 1985 • Hollywood used to cosmeticize lives —Stanley Kauffman, Before My Eyes, 1980 • ... with a brashness that has been cosmeticized into proto-polish —Simon 1980 The verb cosmetize—still waiting for entrée to the unabridged—has been used more often literally than figuratively: • ... artistically cosmetized corpses —Richard Bris-sell, A Stretch on the River, 1950 • The body is embalmed and cosmetized —Newsweek, 9 Sept. 1963 • ... the old dead were cosmetized into an overdrawn image of younger times —Harry J. Boyle, The Great Canadian Novel, 1972 Another possibility for making a verb from cosmetic is to go the route of the plain functional shift: • ... they display themselves—corseted and cosme-ticked—in the streets —G. Legman, Rationale of the Dirty Joke, 2d series, 1975 • Its ugliness mocks every beauty real and cosme-ticked —Milton Mayer, in The Great Ideas Today, eds. Robert M. Hutchins & Mortimer J. Adler, 1965 Cosmetize will perhaps eventually make its way into an unabridged dictionary; its chances will be even better if it continues to be used in a way distinct from cosmeticize. Cosmetic looks like a long shot at the present time. If you need a verb formed from cosmetic, cosmeticize is available and is in dictionaries. Though they are less well established, you can use the others, too, if you like; some writers already have or we wouldn't have collected the examples here. You should be aware, however, that both cosmeticize and cosmetize are likely to draw some of the unfavorable attention that comes to most modern verbs ending in -ize. |
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