Literary notes about assorted (AI summary)
In literature, "assorted" is employed to underscore diversity and variety in both tangible and abstract contexts. It can denote a pleasingly varied mix, as when dainties are gathered into a colorful collection that lends magic to a solemn vow ([1]) or when classifications neatly organize disciples according to their respective classes ([2]). Yet the term also carries a critical edge, describing mismatched unions or incongruent gatherings—whether referring to an ill-assorted pair whose union puzzles onlookers ([3], [4]) or a strangely varied company that strains credibility ([5], [6]). This flexible usage allows authors to invoke both charm and disapproval, depending on the nuances they wish to convey.
- His promise, made at the altar of Bennett's candy counter and solemnized by a dozen assorted dainties, must be fulfilled.
— from Pee-Wee Harris Adrift by Percy Keese Fitzhugh - But as in the case of plants, which are assorted according to their classes, so he deals with his disciples.
— from The Analects of Confucius (from the Chinese Classics) by Confucius - I had often wondered why that ill-assorted pair had married, but just that explanation had never occurred to me.
— from The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham - Such another scheme, composed of so many ill-assorted people, she hoped never to be betrayed into again.
— from Emma by Jane Austen - Toward eight o’clock we assembled in the sitting-room, and a strangely assorted company we were.
— from The Queen of Hearts by Wilkie Collins - ‘Come now, Hattersley, I can’t allow that,’ said that gentleman, stepping up to the ill-assorted couple.
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
