Literary notes about audacious (AI summary)
In literature, "audacious" emerges as a versatile descriptor, one that spans the gamut from valorous daring to brazen insolence. It is frequently employed to characterize individuals whose boldness defies societal expectations, as when a character's visionary, even disruptive, ideas seize their mind [1] or when a figure’s rebellious behavior is depicted through cheeky pranks or insolent remarks [2, 3]. At times, the term encapsulates an almost hallowed defiance against authority, imbuing narratives with a tension that oscillates between admirable bravery and reckless presumption [4, 5, 6]. In this manner, authors have used "audacious" not simply as a term of praise but as a nuanced qualifier that enhances character and propels conflict, leaving readers to navigate its layered implications [7, 8, 9].
- This audacious idea took such a hold on me that it gave me no peace.
— from Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - "I wouldn't be guilty of the audacious insolence of keeping a lady of the house waiting all this time for any earthly consideration.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - They had a gleeful anticipation that the prisoner would play some audacious pranks upon the judge.
— from The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar by Maurice Leblanc - I rejoice in my spine, as in the firm audacious staff of that flag which I fling half out to the world.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - What such an audacious look of well-being, under august displeasure could mean she could not understand.
— from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett - He was intent on an audacious, immitigable, and supernatural revenge.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - Τολμητής, οῦ, ὁ, ( τολμάω ) one who is bold; in a bad sense, a presumptuous, audacious person, 2 Pe. 2.10.
— from A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament by William Greenfield - To think that Apicius should have survived in the North of Europe, far removed from his native soil, is a rather audacious suggestion.
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - Can anything be more irrational or audacious?
— from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott