| 释义 |
masterful, a.|ˈmɑːstəfʊl, -æ-|
[f. master n.1 + -ful.]
1. Of persons (occas. of animals) or their dispositions: Addicted to acting the part of master; accustomed to insist on having one's own way; imperious, self-willed, overbearing. Of actions: High-handed, despotic, arbitrary.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 401 Maysterful mod & hyȝe pryde I hete þe arn heterly hated here. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 756 Eiþer þey [husbands] ben ful of Ialousye, Or maisterful. 1388Wyclif 2 Macc. iv. 27 Sostratus..made maisterful axing [Vulg. exactionem]. ― Luke xii. 59 To the maistirful axer [Vulg. exactori]. c1420Chron. Vilod. 2926 Þe Iaylardes..sayden þat þey wolden þe ȝates vp barste, And other maystrefull werkus þey wold wyrche. c1550Exam. W. Thorpe in Foxe A. & M. (1583) 533 Though such tyrantes be maisterfull and cruel in boasting and manasing. 1636Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. 53 What a-do there is with him, before..his masterful spirit be soundly subdued. a1639Whateley Prototypes ii. xxvi. (1640) 72 Some children are very masterfull and disobedient. 1841–4Emerson Ess., Over-Soul Wks. (Bohn 1884) I. 111 Yonder masterful cuckoo Crowds every egg out of the nest. 1860Trollope Framley P. (1861) III. 193 She was proud and masterful. 1899J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. X. 107 This masterful disregard of logical thought.
†b. Law. (chiefly Sc.) Of robbers, beggars, or their actions: Using violence or threats. Obs.
1561Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 166 For the wranguis, violent, injust and maisterfull spolatioun. 1564Ibid. 289 The maisterfull reiff and stowth fra the said Johnne, furth of his dwelling hous..of lxxx scheip. 1585Ibid. III. 747 Wandering people, maisterfull beggaris, and utheris. 1747–8Act 21 Geo. II, c. 34 §20 The masterful taking away or detaining the same [cattle]. 1754Erskine Princ. Sc. Law (1809) 507 The slaughter of night-thieves, house-breakers, assistants in masterful depredations, or rebels [etc.].
†c. Of natural agencies: Violent, overwhelming.
1513Douglas æneis v. xiii. 57 Thi self is witnes quhow, laitlie our the laif, Sa maisterfull storme amyd the Libyan see Scho raisit sone. 1641S. Marshall Peace-offering 5 They are compared to the most masterfull and mercilesse creatures of fire and water.
†d. ? Strong in resistance, hard to overcome. Obs.
c1470Henry Wallace iv. 159 That land is strait, and maisterfull to wyn.
2. Having the capacities of a master; qualified to command; powerful and vigorous in rule. Formerly sometimes, † having authority, in a position to rule (obs.).
a1400Morte Arth. 3414 The ferthe was syr Judas..The maysterfulle Makabee. c1470Rauf Coilȝear 442, I haue na myster to matche with maisterfull men. 1608Panke Fal of Babel 116 Great Marvaile it were that Damasus should be..growne potent, and masterfull over the bishops of the East. 1675Art Contentm. iii. §16 Has given us the use of reason wherewith to manage that soveraignty, without which we had only bin the more masterful sort of brutes. 1890Hosmer Anglo-Saxon Freedom 165 What if the occupant of the throne..had been a ruler really good and gifted..arbitrary but masterful?
absol.1887G. Meredith Ballads & P. 141 Errors To be by his young masterful repaired.
b. Of language, appearances, etc.: Indicative of mastery or controlling power.
1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. 264 A certain triumphant masterful look in his eyes. 1862‘Shirley’ (J. Skelton) Nugæ Crit. ix. 375 The masterful words of a great man.
3. Characterized by the skill that constitutes a master; masterly. Now only in somewhat rhetorical use, with mixture of sense 2: Characterized by commanding power.
1613W. Browne Sheph. Pipe i. (1614) C 4 b, Not might it been hid How masterfull a leech he had him kid. 1641Milton Animadv. ii. 62 Variety..erects and rouses an auditory, like the masterful running over many chords and divisions. 1733Gent Rippon xi, The most masterful strokes engrav'd on Copper. 1830Fraser's Mag. I. 128 The manly and masterful novels of Sir Walter Scott. 1877Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. Introd., The same masterful hand which carved the lovely anguish of the Dawn. 1883Ruskin Art of Eng. ii. (1884) 65 Whether pleasing or displeasing to your taste they are entirely masterful. |
