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Literary notes about Crestfallen (AI summary)

In literature, crestfallen is a potent descriptor used to convey a character’s momentary loss of hope or spirit. Authors employ it to capture subtle shifts in mood—ranging from the dejected air of Mr. Boffin in Dickens’ narrative [1] to the quietly disappointed tone of a character learning bad news [2]. It appears in both personal reflections and broader social atmospheres, as when a community feels the weight of a setback [3] or when an individual, like the crestfallen Passepartout, expresses silent resignation [4]. This single word, steeped in emotional nuance, efficiently communicates a spectrum of disappointment and subdued sorrow throughout literary works.
  1. Mr Boffin's air was crestfallen and submissive.
    — from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  2. The locksmith scratched his ear and twitched his cap as he answered in a crestfallen tone: "So you have not yet heard?
    — from Debit and CreditTranslated from the German of Gustav Freytag by Gustav Freytag
  3. At nightfall only five thousand dollars had been secured, and there was a crestfallen feeling in the community.
    — from Roughing It by Mark Twain
  4. Poor Passepartout, quite crestfallen, followed his master without a word.
    — from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

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