Literary notes about Unduly (AI summary)
The adverb “unduly” is frequently used in literature to signal that a certain degree of emphasis, restriction, or quality exceeds what is normal or justified. In narrative literature, authors employ it to temper character descriptions or emotional states—for instance, Proust subtly notes a day that was “not unduly wretched” [1], while Hardy illustrates both physical traits and moods as being “unduly marked” or “unduly depressed” [2, 3, 4]. In more analytical or philosophical texts, “unduly” serves to criticize overly restrictive or excessive approaches, as seen in Bertrand Russell’s and John Dewey’s discussions about the limits imposed on knowledge and education [5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Similarly, in practical discourses—from economic policy by Keynes to precise recommendations in etiquette and oratory—the term warns against actions or attributes that go beyond a reasonable measure [11, 12, 13, 14, 15]. Overall, “unduly” functions as a modest linguistic tool to denote over-extension, whether in emotional descriptions, character judgments, or intellectual debates.
- This day, which I had begun with so many misgivings, was, as it happened, one of the few on which I was not unduly wretched.
— from Swann's Way by Marcel Proust - Unduly depressed by a sense of her own superfluity she thought he probably scorned her; and quite broken in spirit sat down on a bench.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - Henchard watched him with his mouth firmly set, the squareness of his jaw and the verticality of his profile being unduly marked.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - Unduly sensitive on such points by reason of his own past, he had the look of one completely ground down to the last indignity.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - If its expression is unduly blocked, inclination shows itself in uneasiness and intense craving.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - The chief objection to it is that it unduly limits knowledge.
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell - But justification is found in the fact that such emphasis is a means of getting us away from an unduly scholastic and formal notion of education.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - The philosophy of learning has been unduly dominated by a false psychology.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - If we say that the things known must be in the mind, we are either unduly limiting the mind's power of knowing, or we are uttering a mere tautology.
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell - Thus Kant's solution unduly limits the scope of a priori propositions, in addition to failing in the attempt at explaining their certainty.
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell - [149] Theoretically an unduly low level of home prices should stimulate exports and so cure itself.
— from The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes - As we all know by experience, considerable ingenuity is often required in packing articles into a box if space is not to be unduly wasted.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - The flap of the envelope should be plain and the point not unduly long.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post - By this means we could obtain sufficient compensation from Germany without unduly stimulating her manufactures and export trade to our detriment."
— from The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes - To bring out any syllable unduly is to caricature the word.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein
