Literary notes about slink (AI summary)
The term “slink” in literature typically conveys a movement marked by stealth, deference, or even disgrace. Authors use it to describe actions ranging from the furtive retreat of a character unwilling to face consequences—as when someone “slinks away” to avoid reproach ([1], [2])—to the subtle, almost animal-like motion of a creature moving with quiet caution ([3], [4]). In some works, it emphasizes a fading presence or diminished pride, as a way of expressing both physical and emotional withdrawal, whether it be the self-conscious evasion of responsibility or a deliberate, shameful disappearance ([5], [6]). This choice of verb thus carries a multi-layered significance that enriches the narrative by suggesting both literal and metaphorical retreat.
- “I’m disgusted with the men up here—they’re all tiresome except Landon—but I hate to slink away, and besides, the country is glorious.
— from The Forester's Daughter: A Romance of the Bear-Tooth Range by Hamlin Garland - He would slink off before Jim’s severe gaze, before my own, which I tried to make indifferent, even before Tamb’ Itam’s surly, superior glance.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - Far away I saw a gaunt cat slink crouchingly along a wall, but traces of men there were none.
— from The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells - And one day I heard the back door shut As I entered the front, and I saw him slink Back of the smokehouse into the lot And run across the field.
— from Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters - You give yourself a lofty air, Your throne an ill-used father’s knee— Now worry fly, slink off dull care, I have my girl, and she has me .
— from Heart Songs by Jean Blewett - I did not slink away through cowardice, but through an unbounded vanity.
— from Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky