Literary notes about undignified (AI summary)
Writers employ "undignified" to evoke situations or behaviors that fall short of accepted refinement or decorum. It is used both humorously and critically, as when a refined character unexpectedly resorts to an undignified snigger ([1]) or experiences a state of being that seems visibly out of place ([2]). The term marks actions considered beneath proper conduct—whether in a personal quarrel that spirals into an undignified dispute ([3]) or in a predicament that a dignified figure should not experience ([4]). By contrasting expected nobility with evident clumsiness or impropriety, authors use "undignified" to highlight the tension between societal ideals and the realities of human behavior ([5], [6]).
- Her hand still in his, she began to laugh, and no biting of her lips could do more than change the laugh into an undignified snigger.
— from The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes by Israel Zangwill - It indicated a state of undignified health and robustness which was not quite nice for a lady no longer young.
— from Madam: A Novel by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant - But Moore used them without the permission and an undignified quarrel arose as to the true authorship of the passage. 373
— from The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems by Alexander Pope - It wouldn’t have been the right thing for them to have seen a minister in such an undignified predicament.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery - but it is necessary to add that there may also be grandeur de cœur in not shrinking from the most undignified proceeding.
— from The Twilight of the Idols; or, How to Philosophize with the Hammer. The Antichrist by Nietzsche - Consequently it may also be the indication of a noble mind to make fun of pathetic situations, and to behave in an undignified manner in them.
— from The Dawn of Day by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
