unsavoury

/ʌnˈseɪvəri/ (bre, ipa) · /ʌnˈseɪvəri/ (ame, ipa)

unsavoury — adjective

  • unsavourypositive
  • more unsavourycomparative
  • most unsavourysuperlative

1. describing a person, activity, place, or aspect of something that is unpleasant,

1.形容詞B2
釋義

describing a person, activity, place, or aspect of something that is unpleasant, morally wrong, or likely to make you feel uncomfortable

例句

Anya was disturbed by the unsavoury details of the restaurant's health inspection report.

collocation: unsavoury + details (disturbing information)

After the bankruptcy, Tendai spent time with several unsavoury characters at the harbour.

unsavoury + characters (shady people)

同義詞
  • offensive

    stronger and more direct; describes something that causes anger or hurt

  • distasteful

    focuses on personal feelings of being offended by what is improper

  • disreputable

    specifically about bad reputation and lack of trustworthiness

  • shady

    informal; suggests dishonesty or possible illegal activity

反義詞
  • reputable

    having a good reputation; opposite in public perception

  • wholesome

    morally healthy and good; implies positive goodness, not just absence of badness

  • decent

    following basic moral standards in an honest way

文法句型

unsavoury + noun (character, reputation, details, past)

用法筆記

Often used attributively before nouns such as 'character', 'reputation', 'details', 'past', or 'business'. The older literal meaning referring to unpleasant taste or smell is now very rare in modern English.

常見錯誤

❌The soup tasted unsavoury, so I sent it back.
✅The soup tasted unpleasant, so I sent it back.
💡'unsavoury' is almost never used for literal taste or smell in modern English; it refers to moral offensiveness.
❌I found the movie unsavoury because it was too long.
✅I found the movie boring because it was too long.
💡'unsavoury' carries a moral judgement about dishonesty or corruption, not a general expression of dislike.