imprecation
UK/.impri'keiʃәn/US
GREC2
释义
n.
A spoken curse; the act of calling down harm or evil upon someone.
诅咒；把祸患、恶事召唤到某人头上的行为。
词根拆分
词根派生im-（此处表「加于、针对」）+ prec（祈祷）+ -ation（……的行为）=「把祈祷加到某人身上的行为」——但祈求的是恶。imprecation 就是诅咒。它是 deprecate 的阴暗镜像：deprecate 祈求坏事离开，imprecation 祈求坏事降到你头上。同样是祈祷，意图相反。
词根 prec 还连着 4 个词常用搭配
- 1.hurl imprecations破口大骂
- 2.mutter imprecations低声咒骂
- 3.a stream of imprecations一连串的咒骂
例句
- 1.
The old sailor muttered imprecations against the storm that had wrecked his boat.
老水手低声咒骂着那场掀翻了他船的风暴。
- 2.
She hurled imprecations at the driver who had nearly run her over.
她朝那个差点撞到她的司机破口大骂。
- 3.
His speech ended not with a blessing but with a bitter imprecation.
他的讲话结尾不是祝福，而是一句恶毒的诅咒。