intact

Definitions

in- (not) + tact (touched) = "untouched." Something nobody has laid a finger on hasn't been broken or rearranged, so it stays whole. intact almost always implies surviving a threat unharmed: the house was intact after the flood.

Why It Means This

The pleasure of intact is in its logic: "not touched." Where most words for "complete" are abstract, intact gives you a physical image — a thing so untouched that nothing could have damaged it. That's why it carries a faint sense of escape: it implies there was danger, and the thing came through whole.

Common Collocations

• 1.remain intact保持完好
• 2.survive intact完好无损地存留
• 3.keep intact使保持完整
• 4.leave intact原封不动地留下

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Miraculously, the ancient vase survived the earthquake intact.

• 2.

  Despite the scandal, his reputation remained largely intact.

• 3.

  The package arrived with its seal still intact.