utter

Word family

ut·ter1 /ˈʌtə $ -ər/ adjectiveadj [only before noun]

COMPLETELYcomplete – used especially to emphasize that something is very bad, or that a feeling is very strong 完全的，十足的，彻底的〔用于强调事物糟糕或感情强烈〕

That’s utter nonsense!

真是一派胡言！

This company treats its employees with utter contempt.

这家公司对其员工不屑一顾。

I watched in complete and utter horror as he pulled out a gun.

我惊恐万分地看着他拔出枪来。

fifteen years of utter confusion

15年的大混乱

Examples from the Corpus

utter• They were ... yes I now concede, complete and utter bozos.• He was forced to return to the earth alone, in utter desolation.• Instead he would gaze at the jury, his face an impassive study in utter disbelief.• Hence the complete and utter mental breakdown of whoever contracts the disease.• She treated herself with what seemed like utter severity.• When designer Rei Kawakubo tucks pillows under blouses and shows her collection in utter silence, simple clothes become disconcerting theater.• We padded through those quiet, leafy roads in utter silence.• A specific point of view of a space, in a fleeting moment of time, could be held in utter stillness.

complete and utter• They were ... yes I now concede, complete and utter bozos.• That's complete and utter hogwash.• A complete and utter lack of vision.• Hence the complete and utter mental breakdown of whoever contracts the disease.• I had risen above him and was now in the state of dung-hai, or complete and utter superiority to Quigley.

utter2 verb [transitiveT] formal

1 SAYto say something 讲，说出

‘You fool!’ she uttered in disgust.

“你这个傻瓜！”她厌恶地说道。

Cantor nodded without uttering a word.

坎托默不作声地点点头。

2 SAYto make a sound with your voice, especially with difficulty 〔尤指吃力地〕发出〔声音〕

The wounded prisoner uttered a groan.

受伤的囚犯发出一声呻吟。

Examples from the Corpus

utter• But as they passed him, their eyes and gestures... silently declared what their lips were forbidden to utter.• I we pointed out that deictic elements of the utterances can only be interpreted with respect to the context in which they are uttered.• Speechreading develops a sensitive awareness of the speaker, not merely of the words he utters.• When he did utter a word or two, rarely, his voice was coarse and stern.• No one had ever heard Thomas utter an unkind word.• I am not free to utter any fancied measurements I please.• The peasants, having just come out to the fields, turn back, uttering loud cries.

uttering ... word• Alexander, being a very determined man, went the next two weeks hardly uttering a word.• Kersey lit a cigarette; before uttering a word he was finding out how the accountant reacted to boorish police tactics.• It does not even protect a man from an injunction against uttering words that may have all the effect of force.• Both players were ejected and were seen uttering words to each other walking off the court.• She said Brown had ordered the office to implement the program without uttering a word to the press.

Origin utter1

Old English utera “further out, outer”, from ut “out”

utter2

(1300-1400) Middle Dutch uteren “to speak, make known”

ut·ter1 adjectiveadjutter2 verb

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus