Literary notes about Sententious (AI summary)
In literature, "sententious" is often used to denote a form of expression that is both pithy and moralistic, conveying a weighty or refined meaning in just a few words [1][2]. It can describe dialogue or narrative passages in which the language is deliberately crisp, aphoristic, and imbued with moral gravity, sometimes to the point of sounding overly didactic or self-important [3][4]. This term, therefore, not only characterizes the concise, proverbial quality of certain remarks but also hints at an affected solemnity that authors employ to underscore a character’s or narrator’s reflective, sometimes pedantic, worldview.
- The themes must be sententious, and have a meaning which is refined and profound.
— from Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat In the U. S. Sloop-of-war Peacock, David Geisinger, Commander, During the Years 1832-3-4 by Edmund Roberts - The style is clear and pleasing, except for a tendency to sententious truisms.”
— from The Cumulative Book Review Digest, Volume 1, 1905Complete in a single alphabet by Various - He wrote better, but spoke most disagreeably;—his harangues being sententious and diffuse, though not destitute of point.
— from Personal Sketches of His Own Times, Vol. 1 (of 3) by Barrington, Jonah, Sir - We have, in Bacon's grand sententious phrase, to command nature by obeying.
— from Social Rights And Duties: Addresses to Ethical Societies. Vol 1 [of 2] by Leslie Stephen
