much-maligned
UK/mʌtʃ-mə'lɪgnd/US/'mʌtʃməl'aɪnd/
Definitions
adj.
Widely and often unfairly criticized or spoken ill of
备受非议的；饱受（常是不公正的）批评的
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedmuch-root
+
malbad, ill
+
-eda shared spelling, two unrelated Latin sources: 'not knowing' (ignorance) and 'born' inside malignus (malign-)
=much-maligned
Built on the verb malign ('to speak badly of'), which shares mal- (bad) + ign (gen 'born') with malignant. much-maligned = 'much spoken ill of' — and the phrasing usually hints the criticism is undeserved. Note the g is silent: 'muh-LYND.'
Root gen still carries 140 more wordsCommon Collocations
- 1.much-maligned politician饱受批评的政治家
- 2.much-maligned policy饱受批评的政策
- 3.much-maligned reputation饱受诋毁的名声
Example Sentences
- 1.
The much-maligned policy turned out to work surprisingly well.
- 2.
He defended the much-maligned coach against the critics.