Literary notes about mere (AI summary)
In literature the word “mere” operates as a subtle modifier that downplays or minimizes the substance of what is being described. It suggests that something, whether an event, character, or sensation, is reduced to its simplest, often trivial form, as when a dramatic story element is dismissed as no more than a mere tale of enchantment [1] or when a voyage is trivialized as a mere bagatelle [2]. At other times, it contrasts superficial appearances with deeper underlying realities—as when a glance or a contact carries significant emotional weight despite being called mere sensations or a mere idea [3, 4]. This careful choice of word thus invites readers to probe beyond the surface, questioning which aspects of the narrative are essential and which are intentionally rendered minimal [5, 6].
- The event on which the interest of the story depends is exempt from the disadvantages of a mere tale of spectres or enchantment.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - Thanks to the invention of steam, a voyage across the ocean is now a mere bagatelle .
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - The schema is, in itself, always a mere product of the imagination.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - More than one person fainted at the mere sight of him, so terrible was the effect.
— from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - Regard the living-getting, money-making part of your career as a mere incidental as compared with the man-making part of it.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden - A demonstration, if just, admits of no opposite difficulty; and if not just, it is a mere sophism, and consequently can never be a difficulty.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
