Literary notes about gilded (AI summary)
The adjective "gilded" is employed to evoke not only a literal shine of gold but also a metaphorical layer of superficial beauty and decorative excess. It is used to depict the physical transformation of mundane objects into radiant, almost holy spectacles—such as when the setting sun cast a serene glow over a landscape, imbuing everyday objects with an air of sanctity ([1], [2]). At the same time, it describes architectural and personal adornments, from elaborate pillars and candlesticks to wings and crowns, suggesting both opulence and ornamental finesse ([3], [4], [5]). In other contexts, the term carries an ironic or satirical nuance, hinting at a surface-level splendor that may mask a hollow or deceptive reality ([6], [7], [8]). This duality enriches literary imagery, allowing writers to layer meaning with a single, evocative word.
- Yet, as the setting sun gilded these objects, a beautiful and almost holy calm seemed diffused about the Grange.
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales by Bret Harte - The sun sinks, And the calm flood Already is gilded.
— from Ecce Homo by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - It is a spacious apartment, with gilded pillars and pilasters, and pictured walls and ceilings.
— from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain - At the very bottom was an embroidered bag covering a sealed, gilded, and illuminated document such as one King sends to another.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - At his elbow stood a table and on the table a candle in a gilded candlestick.
— from The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers - In 1873 Mark Twain led the van of the debunkers, scraping the gilt off the lily in the Gilded Age.
— from 1601: Conversation as it was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the Tudors by Mark Twain - We bury genius; we send it to jail; we ridicule and mock it, while we send mediocrity and idiocy to college, gilded and crowned.
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. Du Bois - Her ambition rebelled against the gilded chains by which she was bound.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden
