Word · CEFR C2 · Frequency #19305
imperceptibly
难以察觉地；极微小地；不知不觉地
in an imperceptible manner or to an imperceptible degree
- 1.
Not noticeably; such that it cannot be detected, through being too small or too fast, etc.
不易察觉地；因太小或太快而无法被察觉地。
- 2.
in an imperceptible manner or to an imperceptible degree
以难以察觉的方式或程度
不易察觉地；因太小或太快而无法被察觉地。；以难以察觉的方式或程度；不感觉地；微细地；极微地
In use
As the sun set, the room grew imperceptibly darker.
She nodded almost imperceptibly, so I was not sure whether she agreed.
Over the evening, the temperature dropped imperceptibly, and only when he shivered did he put on a jacket.
the power of the Secretary of State in London increased gradually but imperceptibly
verb + imperceptibly
imperceptibly 常位于动词后或句末，强调变化极其微小，几乎无法察觉。
The landscape changed imperceptibly as we drove.
我们开车时，沿途的风景在不知不觉中变化着。
imperceptibly + adjective/adverb
修饰形容词或副词时，imperceptibly 常与 small、slight、slowly 等表示微弱程度的词连用。
The difference is imperceptibly small.
Connections
Collocations
- change imperceptibly
- 不知不觉地改变
- Over the years, the town changed imperceptibly.多年间，这个小镇不知不觉地发生了变化。
- shift imperceptibly
- 难以察觉地移动；悄悄转变
- The light shifted imperceptibly as the afternoon passed.随着下午的流逝，光线难以察觉地移动着。
- grow imperceptibly
- 不知不觉地增长
- The gap between them grew imperceptibly over time.他们之间的隔阂随着时间不知不觉地增大了。
- fade imperceptibly
- 不知不觉地消退；难以察觉地淡去
- The colors faded imperceptibly under the sun.在阳光下，颜色不知不觉地褪去了。
- merge imperceptibly
- 难以察觉地融合
- The two styles merge imperceptibly in her paintings.这两种风格在她的画作中难以察觉地融合在一起。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
记忆联想：猫的脚步轻得无声无息，变化就这样 imperceptibly 发生，你完全没注意到。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：文学作品、正式演讲、学术描述 该词常用于正式或文学性的语境，强调变化或过程极其细微、不易被察觉；在日常口语中不太常见，通常可用“不知不觉地”或“难以察觉地”来理解。
Pronunciation & Spelling
Only 'perceptibly' rhymes exactly: both it and the target have the stressed sequence /sɛptɪbli/. The other five share the spelling suffix '-ibly' but not the rhyme: 'incredibly' has /krɛdɪbli/ (the coda /d/ differs from /pt/), while 'visibly', 'audibly', 'legibly', and 'possibly' all use the weak vowel /ə/ in the suffix, giving /-əbli/ rather than /-ɪbli/.
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, OCTANOVE, WIKTIONARY.