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obsequious adj. [ub-SEE-kwee-us]

谄媚的；奉承的；顺从的

Definition

: marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness

注：fawn：未满周岁的小鹿，浅黄褐色 v. 奉承，讨好；attentiveness：注意，专注

Did You Know？

An obsequious person is more likely to be a follower than a leader. Use that fact to help you remember the meaning of obsequious. All you need to to is bear in mind that the word comes from the Latin root sequi, meaning "to follow." (The other contributor is the prefix ob-, meaning "toward.") sequi is the source of a number of other English words, too, including consequence (a result that follows from an action), sequel (a novel, film, or TV show that follows and continues a story begun in another), and non sequitur (a conclusion that doesn't follow from what was said before). 

词源/词根演化：ob- ("toward") + sequi ("to follow") --> obsequious (adj.) 

一个谄媚顺从的人更是一个跟随者而不是领导者。这个事实可以帮助你记忆obsequious这个单词的意思。你需要记住这个词来自于拉丁词根sequi（追随）与前缀ob-（趋向）。此外sequi也一些其他英语词汇的来源，例如consequence（后果，即某个行为产生的结果），sequel（小说，电影或电视剧的续集），以及non sequitur（与前述不符的结论）

注：non sequitur：不合理的推论或结论

Examples

• "Not pleasing others enough amounts to surliness, pleasing too much makes one obsequious - you have to be friendly, but not too friendly. The sweet spot in the middle is where you want to be."
  --- Carlin Flora, Psychology Today, 1 July 2017
  对人冷淡被认为粗鲁，对人太好被认为谄媚 - 要对人友好，但是还不能太友好。中庸才是王道。
  注：amount to：总计，合计，相当于；surliness：不和蔼，粗鲁，恶劣的天气；sweet spot：（平衡各种因素的）最有效点，最有效位置（原指棒球击球时球棒上的最佳击球位置）。
   
• "She read up on professors beforehand and, if their written work was accessible, familiarized herself with it, so she could make mention of it. That flattered them and pegged her as a serious, considerate person. Taking that too far, of course, could be repulsively obsequious."
  --- Frank Bruni, The New York Times, 19 Aug. 2018
  如果她有教授们的作品，她会事先读一下，熟悉内容，这样她就能提及这些作品。这种行为令教授们愉悦，也使她被奉为是一个严谨细心的人。当然，如果做的太过了，成了令人反感的谄媚行为了。
  注：peg：钉；repulsively：令人反感地

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