- 1苗條、修長好看；台灣講「身材很好」「線條很好看」「很纖細」。注意它是稱讚，不是中性的「瘦」——「瘦」對應的是 thin。
Thin in a way that looks elegant — slim, and moving well. The key is that svelte is a compliment, and a stylish one. 'Thin' can sound worried, 'skinny' can sound , but svelte says the body has a good line to it, like a dancer's.
Thin in a way that looks elegant一種看起來優雅的瘦 — slim, and moving well身材苗條、動作也好看. The key is重點是 that svelte is a compliment svelte 是一種稱讚, and a stylish one而且是很有型的那種稱讚. 'Thin' can sound worried thin 聽起來可能讓人擔心, 'skinny' can sound unkind skinny 聽起來可能有點刻薄, but svelte says但 svelte 說的是 the body has a good line to it身材線條很好看, like a dancer's就像舞者那樣.
Because of that, you meet it most in fashion writing, in magazines, and when someone has lost weight and looks good: 'she came back from the summer looking svelte'. It is used of people far more than things, but writers do stretch it to objects with a long, clean shape — a svelte phone, a svelte sports car.
Because of that正因如此, you meet it most你最常在 in fashion writing, in magazines時尚寫作和雜誌裡遇到它, and when someone has lost weight and looks good也會在有人瘦下來又好看時看到: 'she came back from the summer looking svelte'「她整個夏天過後回來看起來很svelte」. It is used of people far more than things這個詞用在人身上遠多於用在物品上, but writers do stretch it to objects不過作家確實會把它延伸用到物品 with a long, clean shape形狀修長俐落的東西上 — a svelte phone線條修長的手機, a svelte sports car線條修長的跑車.
That use is a bit on purpose. The word feels a little fancy and a little foreign in English; you would write it more readily than say it in ordinary talk. Say it SVELT, one syllable, and yes, English lets you start a word with sv- here because it came in from another language. Careful with people's bodies, though — even a compliment about weight can land badly.
That use is a bit showy on purpose這種用法是刻意要顯得有點炫的. The word feels a little fancy and a little foreign in English這個字在英文裡感覺有點花俏、有點異國味; you would write it more readily than say it in ordinary talk你會比較願意寫它而不是在日常對話裡說出來. Say it SVELT唸法是 SVELT, one syllable一個音節, and yes而且沒錯, English lets you start a word with sv- here英文在這裡讓你用 sv- 開頭 because it came in from another language因為這個字是從別的語言借來的. Careful with people's bodies, though不過講到別人的身材要小心 — even a compliment about weight can land badly就算是稱讚體重也可能踩到地雷.
core核心畫面
組成Borrowed from French svelte, which came from Italian svelto, meaning 'stretched out'. That was the past participle of a verb meaning 'to pull out, to pluck out', from a Latin verb vellere, 'to pluck, to stretch'. So the picture inside the word is of something drawn out long.
原始詞典資料2 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。
svelteadj/ˈsvɛlt/
- 1
Attractively thin; gracefully slender.
- Psychoanalytic theory[…]seemed to promise to introduce a certain becoming amplitude into discussions of what different people are like — only to turn, in its streamlined trajectory across so many institutional boundaries, into the sveltest of metatheoretical disciplines, sleeked down to such elegant operational entities as the mother, the father, the preoedipal, the oedipal, the other or Other.
- Clearly the producers of “The Producers” were so little inclined to tinker with a winning formula that they chose not to excise a few lines of dialogue to accommodate the svelter physique of their new leading man, preposterous though it is that anyone in a fit of pique would deride a fellow as “once-husky.”
- 2
Refined, delicate.
- Peering down from the cockpit at grazing elephant, you have the feeling that what you are beholding is wonderful, but not authentic. It is not only incongruous in the sense that animals simply are not as big as trees, but also in the sense that the twentieth century, tidy and svelte with stainless steel as it is, would not possibly permit such prehistoric monsters to wander in its garden.
- At 61, Bryant looks good – smart and svelte in an electric blue suit, youthful, a full head of hair except for a white scar at the back that looks like a side door into his brain.
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。