这两个词都是源出于名词luxury,但词义有所不同。
Luxuriant的意思是"繁茂的"、"茂盛的"(abundant or exuberant in growth),多指植物花草和头发的茂密。例:
The bees are humming over the luxuriant flowers.
My daughter has luxuriant bair.
Luxuriant有时可用作转义,例如:
He has luxuriant imagination.
Luxurious是"奢侈豪华"(characterized by luxury),它大多指生活方面的奢侈。如:
The luxurious palaces of the rich have been turned into rest homes and sanatoriums.
Luxurious有时也能用在好的方面,表示"丰富"、"安乐"、"舒适"等义。例:luxurious food(丰美的食物)。
现将luxuriant和luxurious用在一个句子中,以便区别:
While we were in Indonesia,we stayed in luxurious suite with a window commanding a view of luxuriant foliage.
我们在印尼的时候,住在一所豪华的套房里,窗户面临一片茂密的树林。
近年来,很多英美人都把名词luxury当作形容词使用,他们说 luxury food、luxury hotel、luxury liner、luxury car、luxury flats、luxury articles等等.把luxury变成"豪华级别"的意思,跟luxurious(丰美的、豪华的)这个描述性的形容词有少少分别。事实上,在现代英语中,用名词代替形容词作定语,以修饰其后之名词,这种现象是屡见不鲜的。下面再举两例,以见一斑:
The Rolls Royce is a prestige car.
He is a prestigious scholar.
We are against race (racial)discrimination.
Is this a launch(launching)pad?