Literary notes about conceded (AI summary)
The term "conceded" often appears as a vehicle for reluctant acceptance or acknowledgment in literature. It is used both to signal a character’s admission of a fact they might prefer to deny—as when a speaker reluctantly agrees to an unavoidable truth [1] or admits a personal failing [2]—and to denote the formal allocation or reservation of rights and privileges within a broader social or historical context [3], [4], [5]. The word's versatility allows authors to convey everything from a minor admission in dialogue to the weighty acceptance of political or natural laws [6], [7], enriching the narrative by highlighting moments of hesitant compromise or formal recognition.
- Of course," Mr. Jackson reluctantly conceded, "it's to be hoped they can tide him over—this time anyhow.
— from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - "Well, I admit that," conceded Miss Cornelia reluctantly.
— from Anne's House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery - If a woman can thus have the highest right conceded to her, why should not woman have a lower?
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - These honours the patricians claimed to themselves, in consideration of one consulship having been conceded to the plebeians.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy - He conceded supreme authority to the Father.
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves - Then she had conceded that the fact of the kiss would be nothing: all would depend upon the spirit of it.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy - “It was partly to get you to do something,” I conceded.
— from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
