Literary notes about dissipated (AI summary)
The word "dissipated" finds varied use in literature, serving both as a metaphor for the vanishing of intangible forces and as a label for moral or physical decay. Sometimes it describes the clearing away of mental or emotional burdens—convictions, fears, even mysteries dissolve with new insight or light, as seen when a character’s resolve is swept aside by unforeseen events [1, 2, 3]. In other contexts, it portrays a life of extravagance and self-indulgence, where financial fortunes, reputations, or youthful potential are squanderingly wasted [4, 5, 6, 7]. Additionally, the term extends to capture the literal dispersion of elements like smoke or clouds, imbuing natural scenes with a transient quality [8, 9, 10]. This diverse application enriches narratives by reflecting both the collapse of order and the ephemeral nature of human emotions and circumstances.
- “Yes, she is right,” thought the old princess, all her convictions dissipated by the appearance of His Highness.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Her suspense indeed was dissipated the second day.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James - With the coming of day the sad presentiments and the terrors of darkness were partly dissipated.
— from The Reign of Greed by José Rizal - But the student’s bitter thoughts were soon dissipated by the pleasure which he promised himself in this dinner with the Vicomtesse.
— from Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac - His father was a dissipated spendthrift of unspeakable morals; his mother was a Scotch heiress, passionate and unbalanced.
— from English Literature by William J. Long - In those few weeks he had frightfully dissipated his little capital.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - "His character is now before you; expensive, dissipated, and worse than both.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Some, extending beyond the dome of smoke, dissipated it, leaving behind an incandescent powder.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - There was nothing more to be done but for each to take his place before the fog should be completely dissipated.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - Presently a breeze dissipated the cloud, and I descended upon the glacier.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley