Literary notes about begrimed (AI summary)
The word “begrimed” is used to paint vivid images of dirt, soot, and decline, whether describing a person, an object, or an entire setting. It often conveys not only physical uncleanliness but also a sense of weariness or deterioration, as a soldier’s powder-begrimed face [1] or laborers emerging shaggy and dirt begrimed [2] illustrate. In architecture and landscapes, the term suggests the relentless effects of urban decay and industrial by-products, turning a once-stately structure into something neglectful and grimy [3][4][5]. Even when applied to personal appearance, as in a tear-begrimed face lighting up with joy [6], “begrimed” encapsulates both the tangible accumulation of grime and the metaphorical marks of a hard, often adverse life.
- “I sat upon the carriage of a gun, my face begrimed with powder, and my uniform blackened and blood-stained.
— from Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 2 by Charles James Lever - The sullen break of day found Ahmad Khan and his companions, shaggy, dirt begrimed, with sodden garments, emerging from a ravine.
— from Lachmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi: The Jeanne D'Arc of India by Michael White - In the depths of this yard stood a low, iron-roofed, smoke-begrimed building.
— from Creatures That Once Were Men by Maksim Gorky - Their lodging consisted of two nasty little rooms, with smoke-begrimed walls on which the filthy wall-paper literally hung in tatters.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - In London Marie Louise had lived at Sir Joseph Webling’s home, its gray, fog-stained, smoked-begrimed front flush with the pavement.
— from The Cup of Fury: A Novel of Cities and Shipyards by Rupert Hughes - “It’s me, mother,” said Jimmy, his tear-begrimed face lighting up with joy.
— from Tom Temple's Career by Alger, Horatio, Jr.
