Literary notes about Profundity (AI summary)
In literature, "profundity" functions as a multifaceted term that conveys both literal depth and an abstract, intellectual weight. Authors employ the word to evoke a mysterious emotional dimension—as when a character’s eyes hint at an unfathomable inner world ([1])—and to characterize a deep, thoughtful mind or philosophical insight ([2], [3]). It is also used metaphorically to describe physical abysses or the immeasurable depth of ideas, such as the dark water reaching unknown depths ([4], [5]) or a discourse laden with significant philosophical import ([6], [7]). At times, its use carries an ironic tone, critiquing pretentious displays of learning or overextended cognitive seriousness ([8], [9]). Thus, the term enriches literary expression by bridging tangible and abstract realms of depth.
- Phœbe, the toll-man's daughter she; I knew her by a slow, calm smile, Whose source seemed distant many a mile, Brimming her eyes' profundity.
— from Blooms of the Berry by Madison Julius Cawein - Working-men, in fact, are very proud of Mr. Mill's scholarship, culture, and profundity.
— from Modern Leaders: Being a Series of Biographical Sketches by Justin McCarthy - I perceived that I had every day more of his confidence, and always found new cause of admiration in the profundity of his mind.
— from Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson - The height he knew to be little short of sixty feet, but in the dark night it appeared an abyss of horrible profundity.
— from The Battle and the Breeze by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne - Round us was a perpendicular rock; above us, the distant sky, and below, an unknown profundity of water."
— from The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1 by W. (William) Finden - There is in it a seriousness, a profundity, an immense philosophic import.
— from The Bellman Book of Fiction, 1906-1919 - What most impresses in the Crocean thought is its profundity, its clarity, and its completeness,—totus teres atque rotundus.
— from The Philosophy of the Practical: Economic and Ethic by Benedetto Croce - No profundity, no reading, no metaphysics—nothing which the learned call spirituality, and which the unlearned choose to stigmatize as cant.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - In France almost all those whom we designate as sceptics or as blasés are superficial minds, with an affectation of profundity.
— from The Non-religion of the Future: A Sociological Study by Jean-Marie Guyau
