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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.
  1. “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
  2. Her suspense indeed was dissipated the second day.
    — from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James
  3. With the coming of day the sad presentiments and the terrors of darkness were partly dissipated.
    — from The Reign of Greed by José Rizal
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. In those few weeks he had frightfully dissipated his little capital.
    — from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  7. "His character is now before you; expensive, dissipated, and worse than both.
    — from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  8. Some, extending beyond the dome of smoke, dissipated it, leaving behind an incandescent powder.
    — from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
  9. 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
  10. Presently a breeze dissipated the cloud, and I descended upon the glacier.
    — from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

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