Literary notes about dapper (AI summary)
In literature, the word dapper is often employed to evoke a precise, well-groomed, and stylish image that immediately characterizes a person’s appearance and sometimes their demeanor. It is used to describe everything from a neatly attired clergyman adjusting his spectacles ([1]) to a quick, alert little fellow in a sharp outfit who exudes an air of self-assurance ([2]). At times, the term carries an ironic undertone, as with a character noted to be “dapper to the point of foppishness” ([3]) or associated with an inapt nobility ([4]), suggesting that an overly refined exterior might mask more complex personal traits. Additionally, dapper can even extend beyond human descriptions, as illustrated by a woodpecker hopping about in an unexpectedly neat manner ([5]). Overall, its versatile usage enriches character portraits by blending charm, wit, and sometimes subtle criticism.
- Then a neatly attired dapper young clergyman strolled in, adjusting his eye-glasses.
— from Rodmoor: A Romance by John Cowper Powys - Before the car I was in had started, a dapper little fellow—he would be called a dude at this day—stepped in.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant - The cashier, a slender young man, prematurely bald, and dapper to the point of foppishness, removed his cigarette from his mouth and stepped forward.
— from Dorothy Dixon Wins Her Wings by Dorothy Wayne - It is dapper; it is noble in the bad sense, in the sense in which to be noble is to be inapt for humble service.
— from Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James - Only the dapper woodpecker remained, hopping about on a dead fir tree, mottled with the sun, his head cocked, looking for a place to drill.
— from The Gilded Chair: A Novel by Melville Davisson Post
