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辨析三个和 “忧郁” 有关的近义词：“melancholy”、“sombre” 和 “poignant”

Episode 260701 / 01 Jul 2026

内容简介

你也喜欢看艺术展、读小说吗？如果你仔细观察画作或小说的英文介绍，可能会发现一些经常反复出现的形容词——“melancholy”、“sombre” 和 “poignant”。这三个单词常常被用来描述那些 “带有忧郁基调，让人感到悲伤或惆怅” 的作品。那么，它们之间有什么区别？又可以在哪些语境中使用呢？跟主持人步理和 Phil 一起学习这些颇具 “艺术气息” 的单词吧。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Buli
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。This is Question and Answer of the Week, where we answer your questions about English language, culture and life. I'm Buli. Phil's here to help me answer a question about sad but similar words.

Phil
Let's not get too sad yet. Let's hear the question.

Question
你好，我平时喜欢看艺术展，然后就会发现一些单词在展览上有非常高的 “出镜率”，经常出现在艺术作品的简介中。比如，“melancholy”、“sombre” 和 “poignant” 就经常用来形容那些比较忧郁、暗色调的画作。我偶尔也会在小说里见到这些看起来文学性很强的单词，但还是不太清楚它们具体都想描述出什么样的感觉，请问可以介绍一下吗？

Buli
So, we're looking at words that we can use to describe sadness in art.

这位听众提出的问题确实有些 “忧郁”，因为 “melancholy”、“sombre” 和 “poignant” 形容的通常都是有些愁苦的负面情感。不过也正如问题中所说，如果我们经常观赏或阅读一些美术和文学作品，那么就很可能会见到它们。

Phil
Yes. And, as is so often the case with these questions, we can sometimes use these words to describe the same thing, but they do have some subtle differences.

Buli
Yes, let's start by listening to some examples.

Phil, you look a bit sad. What are you thinking about?

Phil
It's this book. There's this scene that's so poignant, I can't stop thinking about it! It's sad, but it's also really moving. I really feel for the characters.

Buli
Wow, that's a very sombre looking cover – all dark colours and serious-looking people. It's not a comedy, I guess?

Phil
Oh no, definitely not! It's a bit heavy. Look at this quote on the back: 'An air of melancholy runs through the whole novel.' That's not wrong – it's all about loss and how that can affect someone's life. Do you want to read it?

Buli
Um… no, thanks. I really need something that's fun to read today.

你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “你问我答” 节目。在刚才的对话中，我和 Phil 使用了问题中提到的三个单词来描述一本书的外观、内容和带给人的感觉。下面我们就来具体讲一讲这三个单词之间有哪些区别和共同点。Let's start with 'melancholy'.

Phil
Yes. The first thing to note is grammatical. 'Melancholy' is both a noun and an adjective. You can have 'an air of melancholy', but also you can have 'a melancholy atmosphere'. Melancholy is often a sadness that lasts for a long time and often without a clear reason.

Buli
Yes. We often use it to describe a mood or an atmosphere. It can be linked to nostalgia, longing or yearning.

“Melancholy” 这个词和另外两者之间最大的区别就是它既是一个形容词，也是一个名词。它描述的是那种 “长久的、痛苦的忧伤”，像是 “对过去事物的怀念、渴望而不得的想念或者遥不可及的向往” 等等。比如，我们可以用 “a melancholy atmosphere” 来描述 “忧伤愁闷的气氛”，也可以用 “a deep melancholy” 来表示 “一种深深的惆怅”。

So, what about 'sombre'?

Phil
OK, 'sombre' is an adjective. It means 'sad' or 'serious'. A sombre mood, or a sombre atmosphere could be the same as melancholy, but it doesn't have the same idea of something lasting a long time.

You can have a sombre event or hear sombre news. You can have a sombre expression. We also talk about sombre colours – those are dark, serious colours.

Buli
So, 'sombre' is more connected to seriousness than a burst of emotion.

形容词 “sombre” 可以理解为 “庄重而阴沉的，沉痛的，肃穆的” 等等。当用它来形容周遭的气氛时，表达出的意境和 “melancholy” 有些相似。不过，“sombre” 更强调那种 “在当下的、严肃而沉重的忧郁和悲伤”。此外，我们还可以用 “sombre” 来形容颜色，特别是那些 “阴暗的，厚重的” 颜色。

你或许已经注意到了，“sombre” 这个词有两种拼法。就像 “centre（中心）” 和 “theatre（剧院）” 一样，在英国，人们会把它拼写为由 “-re” 结尾；而在一些其它地方，人们可能会用 “-er” 结尾。

Phil
A word that really is all about emotion is 'poignant'. Something that is poignant, makes you feel a particular way, usually something related to sadness. A poignant scene in a film moves you emotionally, so we can also describe it as 'moving'.

Buli
是的。在这三个单词中，“poignant” 和人的感情最直接相关。如果我们说 “something is poignant”，意思就是 “某样事物能强烈地激起人的情绪，特别是悲伤的、伤感的或者酸楚的情绪，令人动容”。不过要注意的是，“poignant” 并不一定意味着带来的感情是负面的。当我们被激起了希望、怜悯或者感动时，也可以用 “poignant” 来形容那些激起我们感情的事物。

Phil
Remember, if you have a question that you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Buli
你还可以通过微博向我们提问。我们的微博账号是 “BBC英语教学”。Bye!

Phil
Bye!

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