Literary notes about agile (AI summary)
Literary authors employ "agile" to evoke images of both brisk physical movement and quick, adaptable thinking. The word enhances descriptions of lively characters—whether highlighting the swift leap of an individual [1] or the nimble, catlike determination to overcome obstacles [2]—or portraying a mind as keen and fast in thought [3]. It also appears in depictions of natural agility, such as an animal’s capacity to maneuver gracefully through its environment [4], and even in analogies that celebrate the supple quality of a voice or limb [5, 6]. In each use, agile enriches the narrative by suggesting a fusion of strength, dexterity, and refined subtlety.
- Then he crept downward to the raw steps again, then picked up his agile heels and flew.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain - Even the agile cat could not get over nor around this formidable fence.
— from In the Land of Cave and Cliff Dwellers by Frederick Schwatka - Samms' brilliant and agile mind snatched up the thought and carried it along.
— from First Lensman by E. E. (Edward Elmer) Smith - When aroused, the Gila monster is remarkably agile, making quick turns of its head to snap at nearby objects.
— from Poisonous Dwellers of the Desert by Natt N. (Natt Noyes) Dodge - Women's voices are more supple than men's, but in all types, the higher voice is the more agile, sopranos in women, the tenor voice in men.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - he cried, breaking off to scold her for too agile a movement in stepping over a branch that lay in the path.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy
