Literary notes about Swank (AI summary)
Swank appears in literature as a multifaceted term that conveys both a sense of flashy, refined style and an undercurrent of affected, even boastful, behavior. Authors employ it both to evoke images of opulent settings—such as elegant hotels, sumptuous suites, or stylish apartments ([1], [2], [3])—and to critique characters whose self-assured swagger borders on pretension ([4], [5]). It is versatile enough to function as a playful jab at exaggerated pride, while at times even lending its name to characters who embody high society or ironic grandeur ([6], [7]). In this manner, swank becomes a tool for highlighting both aesthetic splendor and the subtle vanity that can reside beneath it ([8], [9], [10]).
- It was by far the most swank suite he had ever seen.
— from Spaceman on a Spree by Mack Reynolds - He took the subway to Kennedy's address, a swank apartment in the lower Fifties.
— from Sentiment, Inc. by Poul Anderson - Let's go!” La Calvados was the swankiest French restaurant in Greater Washington, a city not devoid of swank restaurants.
— from Status Quo by Mack Reynolds - How he would swank around, boasting how he brought down the great von Herzmann.
— from Aces Up by Covington Clarke - You’re great fellows for political swank and eye-wash, but you haven’t the brains of a hen.
— from John Brown: Confessions of a New Army Cadet by R. W. Campbell - Mrs. Swank also made a logical and eloquent speech.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III - "I'll take you up to Mr. Swank's room, and I'll send your bag up to you afterwards."
— from Vignettes of Manhattan; Outlines in Local Color by Brander Matthews - The victorious march of the ugly word swank has been one of the linguistic phenomena of recent years.
— from The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Ernest Weekley - Doe was in field boots, but his pleasure in being seen in this cavalry kit was quite spoiled by his fear of being ridiculed for "swank."
— from Tell EnglandA Study in a Generation by Ernest Raymond - Playing cards, hobnobbing with flash toffs with a swank glass in their eye, adrinking fizz and he half smothered in writs and garnishee orders.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce
