1[intransitiveI, transitiveT]SAY to speak in a lowvoice, especially because you are annoyed about something, or you do not want people to hear you 咕哝,嘀咕;悄声说
mutter to yourself
‘I never want to come here again, ’ he muttered to himself.
“我再也不想来这儿了。”他嘀咕道。
Elsie muttered something I couldn’t catch and walked off.
埃尔茜咕哝了一句什么,我也没有听懂,她就走掉了。
‘He’s such an unpleasant man, ’ Alyssia muttered under her breath.
2[intransitiveI]COMPLAIN to complain about something or expressdoubts about it, but without saying clearly and openly what you think 私下抱怨;小声质疑
mutter about
Some senators muttered darkly about the threat to national security.
一些参议员私下里谈论国家安全面临的威胁。
—mutter noun [singular]
His voice subsided to a mutter.
他的声音弱下来,变成了嘀咕。
—muttering noun [countableC, uncountableU]
The mutterings about his leadership continued to grow.
私下里对他领导能力的质疑不断增加。
Examples from the Corpus
mutter• ""Why do I have to do all the work?'' she muttered.• "Sometimes she is such a pain, " Jake muttered.• There has been much muttering among the aggrieved franchisees about the possibility of legal action.• They mutteredcomments and corrections to each other.• Grant went out, muttering something about having to see a client.• I muttered something about helping and followed her out.• They both muttered something about homework and walked away.• Sometimes her lips moved and she muttered something in a low tone.• He muttered something inaudible and withdrew.• He was always muttering to himself about all the experiments he had to do that week.• He was always muttering to himself about all the experiments he had to do that week.
mutter to yourself• He seemed to be muttering to himself.• Then El-Jorr wrenched open the door and, ignoring everybody, left as abruptly as he had arrived, muttering to himself.• Nakki muttered to herself about crooks and thieves.• Where possible he would seizescraps of parchment and draw lines, muttering to himself and scratching his head.• His stepfather was lying on his back, muttering to himself, his eyes oddly fixed, staring up at the ceiling.• Damn Julius! she muttered to herself in a great surge of resentment.• While she was muttering to herself, she was emptyingdrawers and cupboards, and throwing her things into her suitcase.
ADVERB | VERB + MUTTER | PREPOSITIONADVERB➤gruffly, harshly, hoarsely粗聲粗氣地嘀咕;沙啞地低聲說➤through clenched teeth, through gritted teeth咬牙切齒地嘟囔◇'I don't need a drink,' she muttered through clenched teeth.她咬牙嘟囔了一句:“我不喝。”➤aloud出聲嘟囔➤loudly大聲嘟囔➤quietly, softly, under your breath悄悄/輕聲/低聲咕噥➤silently悄聲嘟囔➤sleepily睡意矇矓地嘟囔➤incoherently, vaguely, weakly語無倫次地低聲說;含糊不清地嘟囔;虛弱地咕噥➤angrily, bitterly, crossly, darkly, fiercely, furiously, grimly, irritably, sourly, sullenly生氣地咕噥;忿恨地咕噥;狠狠地嘟囔;不滿地嘟囔;惱火地嘟囔;慍怒地嘟囔◇Helen began muttering darkly about hospitals.海倫開始氣呼呼地講起醫院。➤miserably, sadly痛苦地/悲傷地嘟囔➤nervously緊張地嘟囔➤sheepishly膽怯地嘟囔➤drily, sarcastically冷冷地/諷刺地嘟囔VERB + MUTTER➤be heard to, hear sb被人聽到在咕噥;聽到某人嘀咕◇A number of visitors were heard to mutter that it would not have happened at home.有人聽到幾位參觀者嘟囔說在家就不會發生這種事。◇She heard him mutter an oath under his breath.她聽見他低聲詛咒。PREPOSITION➤about咕噥關於⋯的事◇She muttered something about the incompetence of the office staff.她低聲抱怨辦公人員的無能。➤to對⋯咕噥◇He was muttering incoherently to himself.他語無倫次地喃喃自語。