Literary notes about Profound (AI summary)
The word profound is used in literature to evoke a sense of great depth and intensity in both tangible and intangible realms. Authors apply it to describe physical attributes—a gaze filled with deep mystery ([1]), an enveloping silence that charges a scene with tragic importance ([2], [3]), or even the quiet fold of slumber ([4], [5])—while also extending its meaning to internal states such as earnest admiration ([6]), reflective melancholy ([7]), or intellectual depth and gravitas ([8], [9]). In this way, profound becomes a versatile descriptor that encapsulates both the measurable and the ineffable, enriching character portrayals and setting powerful emotional tones throughout literary works.
- Never had her eyes been so large, so black, of so profound a depth.
— from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert - A profound silence followed the statement.
— from The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar by Maurice Leblanc - After which, there was a profound silence.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - He has fallen into a profound slumber, which doubtless will be of service to him.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. Lewis - The castle was enveloped in a profound calm; it was a peaceful dawn on the bosom of a tranquil river.
— from The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar by Maurice Leblanc - So it was natural that, having made Sara's acquaintance, she should sit and stare at her with profound admiration.
— from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Anna Mikháylovna turned up her eyes, and profound sadness was depicted on her face.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - It is a study, a very profound study of moral development in one character and of moral degeneracy in another.
— from English Literature by William J. Long - So the process by which the immigrant makes the transition from the old country to the new involves profound changes in thought and habit.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park