Literary notes about Completely (AI summary)
The word "completely" functions as an intensifying adverb in literature, underscoring totality, absoluteness, or a decisive change in character or circumstance. It is used to stress that something is total or unmitigated—for example, when Austen’s narrator in Northanger Abbey declares a mistake as “all and completely a mistake” [1], or when Tolstoy’s character experiences a total loss of gaiety in War and Peace [2]. Authors extend its effect to physical and emotional descriptions as well, whether describing a bay as entirely landlocked [3], a character being fully absorbed in their work [4], or the fading of a memory [5]. In these ways, "completely" is employed to eliminate ambiguity and convey a sense of completeness that enriches the narrative.
- It must be all and completely a mistake—for I did not see him once that whole morning.”
— from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - Pierre’s gaiety vanished completely.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - The beautiful bay is completely landlocked, and surrounded by hills of varying height up to 2000 feet.
— from A Diplomat in Japan by Ernest Mason Satow - I was completely absorbed in my work.
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne - At the end of that year it had completely faded.
— from Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo by Juliette Drouet and Louis Guimbaud
