喜樂美語
  1. 1aB2/ʌnˈhelpfəl/幫不上忙；幫倒忙

    Not giving the help that someone needs in a situation, and sometimes making the situation harder or worse.

    示範例句 · Example

    The map was unhelpful — it did not show any of the small streets.

    逐字那張地圖是幫不上忙的——它沒有顯示任何小街道。

    「unhelpful」是 helpful 前面加 un-，意思是「沒幫到忙」——可能是一個很含糊的回答、一張看不懂的地圖，或是一個不肯多說一句的人。要注意英文的 unhelpful 常常再多一層：不只是沒幫上，還讓事情變得更卡、更麻煩，所以說出口時通常帶著一點抱怨的味道。可以想成 helpful 的反面：helpful 把事情往前推一步，unhelpful 讓事情停在原地。

    常見搭配

    • particularly / very unhelpful

      非常幫不上忙

      not helping at all, in a way that annoys you

      The instructions in the box were particularly unhelpful.

    • an unhelpful answer / comment

      幫不上忙的回答／話

      something someone says that does not help you at all

      "Look it up yourself" was an unhelpful comment.

    • find someone / something unhelpful

      覺得某人或某物幫不上忙

      to think that someone or something did not help you

      Mei found the old guidebook unhelpful.

    • be unhelpful to someone

      對某人沒有幫助

      to not help a particular person or group

      That rule is unhelpful to new students.

    • rude and unhelpful

      沒禮貌又不肯幫忙

      impolite and not willing to help

      The staff at the counter were rude and unhelpful.

    意思相近

    uncooperativeunsupportiveuselessno helpobstructive

core核心畫面

Someone reaches out for help and the door stays shut. A picture you can hold: a person is stuck and asks; the other side gives nothing useful — and sometimes the empty answer leaves them worse off than before they asked.

有人卡住了、伸手求援，而對方那一邊什麼也沒給出來。un- 是「否」，help 是「幫」，所以 unhelpful 先是「該幫的時候沒幫上」。但這個字比單純的「沒幫到」再多一層：那個空掉的回應本身常常會讓事情更難處理——你原本只是卡住，被這樣回一句之後，反而還要多花力氣繞路。英文裡說 an unhelpful reply、an unhelpful attitude，指的就是這種「不但沒接住你，還讓局面更僵」的感覺。

同家族的字

意思相近

uncooperativeunsupportiveuselessno helpobstructive

原始詞典資料1 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。

unhelpfuladj/ʌnˈhɛlpfəl/

  • 1

    Not providing help or assistance; not helpful.

    • Even if you are genuinely a victim, having a victim mentality is unhelpful because it is disempowering. ― Ned Kelly, "NFL Players Are Setting A Bad Example By Teaching Black People To Encourage Victimhood", 8th of October 2017
    • "Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in that moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the stars, that you cried not to him?"

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。