Literary notes about unmoving (AI summary)
In literature, "unmoving" frequently conveys a sense of stasis that mirrors both physical stillness and emotional detachment. Authors use the word to describe characters who remain inert in moments of intimacy, shock, or despair—as when a girl’s fingers stay unmoving during a delicate touch [1] or when a character’s face is depicted as unnervingly fixed and inanimate [2]. At times, "unmoving" lends an almost otherworldly quality to a scene, capturing the static, eerie presence of an object or landscape, as seen in descriptions of a door that seems suspended in time [3] or a massive, deadened skyline [4]. In its various applications, the term enriches the narrative by emphasizing the tension between motion and immobility, whether by highlighting an internal state of frozen emotion or the literal stillness of the environment.
- The GIRL's fingers slip between his own, and stay unmoving.
— from The Works of John GalsworthyAn Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Galsworthy by John Galsworthy - The woman's face became the color of plaster, but it remained unmoving, as though every nerve in it were cut.
— from The Gilded Chair: A Novel by Melville Davisson Post - She glided half way across the room, paused, looked at me, and pointed toward the unmoving door.
— from The Inheritors by Ford Madox Ford - Even the smoke in the sky hung unmoving.
— from Deathworld by Harry Harrison
