| 释义 |
trepidatious, a. orig. U.S.
Brit. |ˌtrɛpɪˈdeɪʃəs|, U.S. |ˌtrɛpəˈdeɪʃəs|
[Either > v. + -ious suffix, or > n.) + -ious suffix. Compare earlier trepidatory adj.]
Apprehensive, nervous; filled with trepidation.
1940Circleville (Ohio) Herald 18 May 8/5 A trepidatious Europe today remained tense, worried, fearful, for the outcome of what military men predict will be the greatest battle in the history of the world. 1946L. De La Torre Dr. Sam 47 The little old crone opened for us without any delay, and dropped us a trepidatious curtsey. 1988Herald (Melbourne) (Nexis) 8 Apr. The trepidatious cook could easily be alarmed by the dash-and-slurp school of instruction which favors handfuls of this and a toss of that. 1999J. Lethem Motherless Brooklyn 50 The task was identical..and we performed it in the same trepidatious silence.
Derivatives. trepidatiously adv.
1985Afr. Affairs 84 191 There are still only few women writers in Africa, and I was *trepidatiously interested at the recent conference to hear one of them..take most of them severely to task for all kinds of failures. 2002D. H. Schleicher Crematorium 72 A young man approached them trepidatiously. |
