意味一覧 (2件)
擦り切れた
解説 Definition
threadbare は、布や衣服が長く使われて薄くなり、糸が見えるほど擦り切れた状態を表します。コート、袖、カーペット、毛布など、実際に摩耗した布製品について使うのが最も基本的です。
Threadbare describes cloth or clothing that has been used for a long time and has become very thin from wear. It is often used when the material is so worn that the threads can be seen. The most basic use is for real fabric items such as coats, sleeves, carpets, and blankets that have been rubbed and used again and again.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
threadbare は thread「糸」と bare「むき出しの」が合わさり、布地の糸が見えるほど「擦り切れた」という形容詞です。threadbare coat や threadbare carpet のように衣服や敷物によく使います。また threadbare excuse のように「使い古されて説得力のない」にも広がります。worn より、薄く貧弱に見える感じが強いです。
Erode has a stronger sense of weakening something little by little over time than damage or destroy. In the sense of "harm" or "undermine," it is often used with things like trust, confidence, support, authority, or value, when small events or pressure slowly wear them away. Undermine is similar, but it more strongly suggests weakening something from underneath. Think of erode as a verb for gradual loss, not sudden destruction.
例文
He was still wearing a threadbare coat in the middle of winter.
彼は真冬でも擦り切れたコートをまだ着ていた。
The threadbare carpet in the hallway showed how many people had walked over it for years.
廊下の擦り切れたカーペットは、何年も人が通ってきたことを物語っていた。
She wrapped the baby in a threadbare blanket that had been in the family for generations.
彼女は何世代にもわたって家にあった擦り切れた毛布で赤ん坊を包んだ。
みすぼらしい
(意味 2)解説 Definition
衣服などが使い古されてすり切れた状態。転じて、陳腐で新鮮味のないさま。
Threadbare means worn out, thin, and no longer in good condition, especially for clothes or fabric. It can also describe something, such as an excuse or idea, that has been used too much and seems weak or unconvincing. The word often suggests age, poverty, or lack of freshness.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
このエントリでは threadbare を、単に布が擦り切れた状態ではなく、外見や雰囲気が貧しく古びて見える「みすぼらしい」という評価で覚えます。shabby に近い感覚で、服、部屋、暮らしぶりなどが手入れ不足で立派に見えない時に使われます。基本義の「擦り切れた」から連想はできますが、ここでは物理的な摩耗そのものより、貧相でくたびれた印象が中心です。
Break it into thread + bare: the cloth is so worn that the threads show. That image makes the word easy to keep in mind for old, shabby things. It also helps with phrases like "a threadbare excuse," where the idea becomes overused and weak.
例文
His threadbare coat barely kept out the winter cold, but he could not afford a new one.
彼のすり切れたコートは冬の寒さをほとんど防げなかったが、新しいものを買う余裕はなかった。
The threadbare excuse that the dog ate his homework convinced absolutely no one.
犬が宿題を食べたという使い古された言い訳は、誰一人納得させなかった。
The hotel room had threadbare carpets and faded curtains that spoke of decades of neglect.
そのホテルの部屋にはすり切れたカーペットと色あせたカーテンがあり、何十年もの放置を物語っていた。
threadbare の語源・成り立ち Etymology
threadbare は thread「糸」と bare「むき出しの」から成る複合語です。布が擦り減って糸が見える状態を指したことが、現在の基本義につながっています。
Threadbare is a compound of thread and bare. It originally described cloth worn so thin that the threads were left bare or visible. From that image, it came to mean physically worn fabric in its basic sense.
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