side-effect

side-effect — 名詞

1. A negative physical reaction that a medicine, injection, or treatment causes bey

1.名詞B2
釋義

副作用

藥物或治療引起的不良反應

A negative physical reaction that a medicine, injection, or treatment causes beyond the desired healing effect.

例句

Christopher stopped taking the painkillers because the side effects made him feel dizzy all day.

Christopher 停止服用止痛藥，因為副作用讓他整天頭暈。

often plural: side effects

The clinic warned that a side effect of this injection is temporary skin redness.

診所警告說，這種注射的一項副作用是皮膚暫時發紅。

同義詞
  • adverse reaction

    broader term covering any negative bodily response including allergies; more formal in register

  • aftereffect

    focuses on lingering effects that persist after treatment ends rather than concurrent effects

  • complication

    implies a more serious, often unexpected medical problem arising during a procedure

用法筆記

Frequently used in the plural form 'side effects' when listing or describing multiple reactions from a single course of treatment. Often paired with adjectives such as 'mild', 'serious', or 'rare'.

常見錯誤

❌The drug has serious sides.
✅The drug has serious side effects.
💡In English, 'side' alone cannot replace the full compound noun 'side effect'.

2. An additional and often unintended consequence of an action, decision, or change

2.名詞B2
釋義

連帶效應

非預期產生的附加結果

An additional and often unintended consequence of an action, decision, or change, beyond the originally intended outcome.

例句

An unexpected side effect of the new road was that local shops gained more customers.

那條新道路的一個意料之外的連帶效應，是當地商店多了更多顧客。

collocation: unexpected/welcome side effect of [situation]

Working from home had the welcome side effect of saving Asher money on transport.

在家工作帶給 Asher 一個令人歡迎的連帶效應：省下了交通費。

同義詞
  • byproduct

    more neutral in tone; does not imply whether the secondary result is good or bad

  • consequence

    broader and more general; can refer to the main result as well as secondary ones

  • repercussion

    often implies an indirect negative effect that spreads over time

用法筆記

Often modified by adjectives that describe the nature of the consequence, such as 'welcome', 'unexpected', 'unintended', or 'positive'. Unlike sense 1, this sense does not imply negativity.

常見錯誤

❌A side effect of the new law was unexpected.
✅An unexpected side effect of the new law was...
💡The adjective should directly modify 'side effect' for natural English word order.