Word · Frequency #18624
undercurrents
暗流
undercurrents is the plural of undercurrent.
a subdued emotional quality or implicit meaning underlying an utterance
此处为比喻义，指话语中隐含的情绪或意味。
- 1.
A current of water which flows under the surface, and often in a different direction from surface currents.
水面下的水流,方向常与表层水流不同。
- 2.
a subdued emotional quality underlying an utterance; implicit meaning
言语中潜在的情感特质；隐含意义
- 3.
A tendency of feeling or opinion that is concealed rather than exposed.
隐藏而非表露的情感或意见倾向。
- 4.
a current below the surface of a fluid
流体表面下的水流
水面下的水流,方向常与表层水流不同。；言语中潜在的情感特质；隐含意义；隐藏而非表露的情感或意见倾向。；流体表面下的水流；潜流
In use
There was an undercurrent of tension in the room during the meeting.
Her calm words hid an undercurrent of anger.
Beneath their friendly conversation, I sensed an undercurrent of distrust.
an undercurrent of [emotion/quality] in [something]
常与表示情绪或氛围的名词连用，指没有直接说出的潜在感受。
There was an undercurrent of sadness in her voice.
她的声音里透着一股悲伤的暗流。
have a [adjective] undercurrent
可用形容词说明潜在倾向或性质，如 political、bitter 等。
His speech had a political undercurrent.
他的演讲带有政治潜台词。
sense an undercurrent in [something]
常用 sense、detect、feel 等感知动词搭配，表示察觉到未明言的情绪。
Connections
Collocations
- an undercurrent of anger
- 一股暗含的怒气
- Beneath his calm voice there was an undercurrent of anger.在他平静的声音之下暗含着一丝怒气。
- an undercurrent of tension
- 紧张情绪的暗流
- The meeting was polite, but an undercurrent of tension ran through the room.会议气氛客气，但房间里弥漫着一种紧张情绪的暗流。
- political undercurrents
- 政治暗流
- The movie explores the political undercurrents of the era.这部电影探讨了那个时代的政治暗流。
- sense an undercurrent
- 察觉到暗流；隐约感到某种情绪
- I sensed an undercurrent of unease among the guests.我隐约感到客人们中间有一股不安的暗流。
Idioms & figurative uses
- an undercurrent of unease
- 不安的暗流There was an undercurrent of unease beneath the polite conversation.
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想：under（下）+current（水流），水面下的暗流，喻指表面下隐藏的情绪。
Context & Register
语域：neutral 常见场景：news reports、literary analysis、everyday conversation about feelings 该词指隐藏在表面之下的情绪或隐含意义，属于中性词汇，通常多用于书面或较正式的表达（如新闻、文学评论），在口语中偶尔出现，显得比较文雅。
Pronunciation & Spelling
发音说明：undercurrent 的结尾 /kɝənt/ 与 current、concurrent、recurrent 押韵。注意 currant 是 current 的同音词（/ˈkɝənt/），但拼写和意思不同。开头 /ˈʌndɚ/ 与 under、thunder 押韵，注意 thunder 拼写中含 under，但发音多了一个 /θ/。小心形近词如 undergraduate /ˌʌndɚˈɡrædʒuət/ 和 understand /ˌʌndɚˈstænd/，它们以 under- 开头，但整个词的读音与 undercurrent 并不押韵。
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.