char·ac·ter /ˈkærəktə $ -ər/ ●●● S1 W1 noun1 all SB’s qualities 某人所有的品質 [countableC usually singular]CHARACTER/PERSONALITY the particular combination of qualities that makes someone a particular type of person 〔某人的〕個性,性格 → characteristicHe has a cheerful but quiet character. 他的性格樂觀文靜。
Children grow up with a mixture of character traits (=character qualities) from both sides of their family. 兒童在成長過程中會把父母親雙方的性格特點都繼承下來。
his temper and other character flaws (=bad qualities) 他的火爆脾氣和其他性格缺陷
in character/out of character (=typical or untypical of someone’s character) 符合/不符合…的個性He swore, which was out of character for him. 他咒罵了起來,這與他的性格不符。
the English/French etc characterOpenness is at the heart of the American character. 坦誠是美國人的性格特點。
character sketch (=a description of someone’s character) 性格特寫,個性描寫
2 person 人物 [countableC] a) Aa person in a book, play, film etc 〔書、劇本、電影等中的〕人物,角色Candida is the most interesting character in the play. 坎迪達是劇中最有趣的人物。
In the story, the main character has left his girlfriend and baby. 故事中,主人公離開了他的女友和孩子。
Everyone recognizes Disney’s cartoon characters. 迪士尼的卡通人物盡人皆知。
b) PERSON/PEOPLEa person of a particular type, especially a strange or dishonest one 某一類型的人;〔尤指〕怪人,不誠實的人a couple of shady characters standing on the corner 站在角落裏的幾個形迹可疑的人
I’m considered a reformed character these days (=someone who has stopped doing bad things). 現在我被認爲是改邪歸正了。
c) INTERESTINGan interesting and unusual person 有趣的人;不同尋常的人Linda was something of a character. 琳達可是個有趣的人。
3 qualities of STH 某物的特色 [singular, uncountableU]CHARACTER OF something the particular combination of features and qualities that makes a thing or place different from all others 特點,特征,特色 SYN naturecharacter ofThe whole character of the school has changed. 這所學校的特色已經完全變了。
the unspoilt character of the coast 海濱未遭破壞的特色景致
in characterThe southern state became more nationalist in character. 這個南方州的民族主義色彩變得更加鮮明了。
4 moral strength 道德力量 [uncountableU]GOOD/MORAL a combination of qualities such as courage, loyalty, and honesty that are admired and regarded as valuable 人格,好的品質,品性a woman of great character 一位品格高尚的婦人
Schools were created to teach reading and mathematics, not moral character. 那時創辦學校是爲了教學生識字認數,而不是進行道德教育。
It takes strength of character to admit you are wrong. 承認自己的錯誤是需要勇氣的。
Sport can be character building (=develop good moral qualities). 體育運動可以培養良好的品格。
5 interesting quality 有趣的特點 [uncountableU]CHARACTER/PERSONALITY a quality that makes someone or something special and interesting 〔使某人或某物特别或有趣的〕特征a red wine with a meaty character 一種味道濃鬱的紅葡萄酒
suburban houses that lack character 沒有特色的郊區住宅
6 reputation 聲譽 [uncountableU] formalREPUTATION the opinion that people have about whether you are a good person and can be trusted 聲譽,名望a man of previous good character 原來聲譽良好的人
The campaign was accused of character assassination (=an unfair attack on someone’s character) because of its negative ads. 這次宣傳活動因其負面廣告而被指責爲诽謗行爲。
His defence called several people as character witnesses (=people who think that someone has a good character). 他的辯護律師傳召了幾個人做品德證人。
Mr Wetherby wrote him a character reference (=a statement about his good qualities). 韋瑟比先生爲他寫了一份品德證明書。
7 letter/sign 字母/符號 [countableC]SL a letter, mark, or sign used in writing, printing, or on a computer 〔書寫、印刷或計算機上的〕字,字體,符號the Chinese character for ‘horse’ 漢字中的“馬”
COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2a: ADJECTIVES/NOUN + characterthe main/central/leading character 主角/中心人物/主要人物Alec is the central character in the play. 亞歷克是劇中的中心人物。
nthe lead character (=in a play, film, or television series)DiCaprio played the lead character in Titanic.
a minor character 配角,次要人物Two of the minor characters get killed. 有兩名配角死了。
a television/movie/cartoon character 電視劇/電影/卡通片人物Who’s your favourite television character? 你最喜歡的電視劇人物是誰?
a comic/tragic character (=a funny or sad one) 喜劇/悲劇人物Homer Simpson is a great comic character. 霍默•辛普森是非常著名的喜劇人物。
fictional/fictitious (=not existing in real life) 虛構的People sometimes forget that television characters are fictional. 人們有時候會忘記電視劇人物是虛構的。
convincing (=seeming like a real person) 有說服力的The characters were totally convincing. 這些人物絕對有說服力。
a sympathetic character (=one you like) 討人喜歡的人物nIn the book, Jeff isn’t a sympathetic character.
verbsplay a character 扮演角色I wanted to play the character of Danny. 我想演丹尼這個角色。
portray a character (=show one in a play, book, film etc) 刻畫人物The main characters are brilliantly portrayed. 主要人物刻畫得非常出色。
ndevelop a character (=make a character become more interesting)The movie didn’t develop his character as well as the book did.
nnounscharacter development (=the process of developing characters)I thought the plot was boring and there wasn’t much character development.
a character actor (=an actor who plays interesting or unusual characters)He’s a well-known character actor.