Literary notes about decisively (AI summary)
In literature, the adverb "decisively" is employed to imbue actions and statements with a sense of firmness, finality, and clarity. It marks moments where outcomes—whether in battle, conversation, or personal resolve—are rendered clear and free from ambiguity, as seen when historical confrontations are concluded with unyielding force [1, 2] or when a character’s refusal or agreement is stated with unwavering certainty [3, 4]. The term not only accentuates the immediacy and power behind a decision, but it also often signals a turning point that propels a narrative forward, be it in dramatic interpersonal conflicts or in the subtle shifts of a character’s emotional landscape [5, 6, 7]. This deliberate use of "decisively" enriches the text by highlighting moments of action and speech that decisively determine the course of events.
- A battle was fought on Good Friday between the English army and the hosts of Theodore, who was decisively beaten.
— from Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ by Aaron Bernstein - At last on March 18, after twenty futile assaults, the Nautilus was decisively held in check.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - “There never will be in Casterbridge,” declared Henchard decisively.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - “He loves no one and perhaps he never will,” Razumihin declared decisively.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The facts, then, are decisively in favor of the proposition above laid down. "
— from Know the Truth: A Critique on the Hamiltonian Theory of Limitation by Jesse Henry Jones - Prince Andrew suddenly decided finally and decisively.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - ‘And he’s like David, too,’ said my aunt, decisively.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
