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今 天说的 overshadow /əʊvər’ʃædəʊ/ 很容易理解，over 表示上方，此处的shadow 名词转作动词，表示投射阴影。

所以，overshadow 的基本义为”遮挡”，或”在…上空投射阴影”。

The whole road is overshadowed by tall trees.

整条街浓荫密布。

overshadow 还可以引申为”给…蒙上阴影”：

The bad news overshadowed the wedding ceremony.

= The wedding ceremony was overshadowed by the bad news.

坏消息给婚礼现场蒙上了一层阴影。

也有黯然失色或相形见绌的含义：

He has always felt overshadowed by his brilliant younger brother.

他总觉得在才华出众的弟弟面前黯然失色 / 才华出众的弟弟总使他相形见绌。

📖 名著中的 overshadow

But the sharp pains were fading. There was a new pain, a scalding pain in my hand that was overshadowing everything else.

– Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

但那种尖锐的疼痛正渐渐褪去。我又感到一种新疼痛，我的手上传来一种灼烧的疼痛，这种痛楚比其它任何别的疼痛都要强烈。

– 史蒂芬妮·梅尔《暮色》

△史蒂芬妮·梅尔的《暮光之城》系列：《暮色》,《新月》,《月食》,《破晓》,《暮色重生》和《午夜阳光》

△Stephenie Meyer

△电影海报

📝 overshadow 的近义词

“投射”常见的说法是 cast，所以，用短语来解释 overshadow 就是 cast a gloom over：

The sudden death of the captain cast a gloom over the whole team.

队长的突然离世给整个队伍蒙上了阴影。

顺便说说 overcast /əʊvər’kæst/。

overcast 与 overshadow 两个基本义一样，都指用云或阴影遮蔽：

The sky was overcast by thick clouds.

厚厚的云层笼罩着天空。

与 overshadow 不同的是overcast 还可作形容词用：

a depressing, overcast winter afternoon

沉闷，阴暗的冬日午后

outshine /aʊt’ʃaɪn/ 与 overshadow 的引申义相同，表示在某方面比某人优秀或胜过某人：

Phelps easily outshone his rivals in the 200 meter freestyle.

菲尔普斯在200米自由泳中轻松战胜对手。