Literary notes about Rarefied (AI summary)
The term “rarefied” is used in literature to convey both physical and metaphorical states of diminished density and elevated quality. It often describes a tangible thinning of the air—as seen in texts where characters struggle to breathe in high, almost ethereal altitudes ([1], [2], [3]) or where the purity of a gas is explored scientifically ([4], [5], [6]). At the same time, the word extends beyond a mere physical description to symbolize an abstract refinement or detachment; it captures a sense of elevated elegance or aloofness in art, emotion, or society ([7], [8], [9]). This multifaceted usage enriches the narrative, allowing authors to evoke both the stark realities of nature and the lofty ideals of human experience.
- I noticed, too, that I had to take long, deep breaths in the rarefied atmosphere.
— from Flying for France: With the American Escadrille at Verdun by James R. (James Rogers) McConnell - The rarefied air at the same time painfully acted upon my lungs.
— from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne - The sensation reminded me of my only experience of mountaineering, and from that I judged the air to be more rarefied than it is now.
— from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells - 49 When other gases are introduced in rarefied form, they are similarly illuminated, but in colors corresponding to their composition.
— from Triumphs and Wonders of the 19th Century: The True Mirror of a Phenomenal Era A volume of original, entertaining and instructive historic and descriptive writings, showing the many and marvellous achievements which distinguish an hundred years of material, intellectual, social and moral progress by James P. (James Penny) Boyd - [Pg 126] or containing highly rarefied gases.
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - But gradually the moisture and the air itself, becoming rarefied, would fly away from the earth, being held no longer by the force of gravitation.
— from A Complete Grammar of Esperanto by Ivy Kellerman Reed - Like the women of Botticelli, they seem to poise in an atmosphere of more rarefied loveliness {148} than anything we know in reality.
— from Chats on Japanese Prints by Arthur Davison Ficke - There is an aloofness, a detachment, a rarefied purity, about his music, that makes it difficult to describe in terms of human feeling.
— from Beethoven and His Forerunners by Daniel Gregory Mason - "The average egoism of the end of the century moves in a very rarefied air."
— from Flames by Robert Hichens
