喜樂美語
  1. 1aB2/ˌɪrɪˈspɑːnsəbəl/ · /ˌɪrɪˈspɒnsəbəl/不負責任的

    Doing careless things without thinking or worrying about the bad things that could happen because of them, especially when other people could be hurt or let down.

    示範例句 · Example

    Leaving the tap running all night was irresponsible.

    逐字整晚讓水龍頭開著是不負責任的。

    「irresponsible」講的不只是「做錯事」，而是「該想到後果卻沒去想」——而且那個後果常常落在別人身上。它可以形容人（an irresponsible driver），也可以形容一個行為（That was irresponsible）。跟 careless 比一下就很清楚：careless 多半是自己出的小差錯（抄錯一個字），irresponsible 是那個差錯會影響到別人（該顧的人沒顧到）。怎麼想這個字？可以想成 responsible 就像「事情找上你的時候，你接得住、回得了（response）」，前面加 ir- 就把它整個翻過來：該接住的那一份，沒有去接。

    常見搭配

    • completely / totally irresponsible

      完全不負責任

      irresponsible in every way, with nothing to excuse it

      Riding a bike at night with no lights is totally irresponsible.

    • highly irresponsible

      極其不負責任

      very irresponsible — used in serious or written comments

      The report said it was highly irresponsible to open the pool with no one on duty.

    • it is irresponsible (of somebody) to do something

      （某人）做某件事是不負責任的

      used to say that doing something shows no thought about the bad results

      It was irresponsible of him to leave the kitchen with the stove still on.

    • irresponsible behaviour

      不負責任的行為

      the way someone acts when they do not think about the bad results

      The camp has clear rules about irresponsible behaviour near the water.

    • act / behave irresponsibly

      行事不負責任

      to do things without thinking about the possible bad results

      He admitted that he had acted irresponsibly and said sorry to the whole class.

core核心畫面

You can picture someone doing something risky without ever asking the next question — what happens after this? They are not cruel and often not even careless about themselves; the piece that is missing is the thought about who else has to live with the result.

一個人做了某件事，但腦子裡從來沒有跑過下一個問題——「這樣做，後面會怎樣？」他不見得是壞心，甚至也不是笨，只是那一段「想到後果、想到會拖累誰」的思考整個沒有發生。字面上是 ir-（不）+ responsible（負責任的），而 responsible 的裡面藏著 response（回應）：一個負責任的人，是願意在事情出狀況時站出來回應的人；irresponsible 就是連「這件事之後要有人回應」都沒放在心上。

同家族的字

比較級 more irresponsible最高級 most irresponsible

原始詞典資料3 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

irresponsibleadj/ˌɪɹ.ɪˈspɒn.sə.bəl/

  • 1

    archaicNot responsible; exempt from legal responsibility, not to be held accountable.

    • They left the crown what, in the eye and estimation of law, it had ever been, perfectly irresponsible.
  • 2

    Lacking a sense of responsibility; performed or acting as though without responsibility; negligent.

irresponsiblenoun/ˌɪɹ.ɪˈspɒn.sə.bəl/

  • 1

    Someone who is not responsible.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。