meretricious

• adj. 俗氣的；娼妓的；華麗而庸俗的

來自拉丁語meretrix,妓女，來自mereri,掙錢，賺取自己應得的部分，來自PIE*mer,smer,砍，切，分配，詞源同merit,polymer.-trix,表陰性，詞源同dominatrix.字麵意思即賺錢的女人，用於委婉語指妓女。並由此引申多種貶義詞義。最終詞源可能同market,mercy.

meretricious (adj.)

1620s, "pertaining to harlots," from Latin meretricius "of or pertaining to prostitutes," from meretrix (genitive meretricis) "prostitute," literally "woman who earns money," from merere, mereri "to earn, gain" (see merit (n.)). Meaning "gaudily alluring" is from 1630s. Related: Meretriciously; meretriciousness.

1. A wooden building painted to look like marble is meretricious.

一座漆得像大理石般的木製建築物外表是美麗的.

來自《現代英漢綜合大詞典》

2. Her room was painted in meretricious technicolour.

她的房間刷著俗豔的顏色。

來自辭典例句