by
James Wood
frisson
(en)
(noun) a brief moment of emotional excitement; shudder thrill
274
both the emotional credibility of conventional realism and a frisson of postmodern wordply
notable
6 years, 8 months ago
both the emotional credibility of conventional realism and a frisson of postmodern wordply
notable
6 years, 8 months ago
fossick
(en)
(verb) to search for gold or gemstones typically by picking over abandoned workings / (verb) to search about; rummage / (verb) to search for by or as if by rummaging; ferret out
309
It does a writer as talented as Hollinghurst few favours to be fossicking in fustian in this way
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6 years, 8 months ago
It does a writer as talented as Hollinghurst few favours to be fossicking in fustian in this way
confirm
6 years, 8 months ago
fustian
(en)
(noun) a strong cotton and linen fabric / (noun) a class of cotton fabrics usually having a pile face and twill weave / (noun) high-flown or affected writing or speech / (noun) anything high-flown or affected in style
309
It does a writer as talented as Hollinghurst few favours to be fossicking in fustian in this way
unknown
6 years, 8 months ago
It does a writer as talented as Hollinghurst few favours to be fossicking in fustian in this way
unknown
6 years, 8 months ago
rictus
(en)
(noun) the gape of a bird's mouth / (noun) the mouth orifice / (noun) a gaping grin or grimace
322
he is sure that he is not attractive enough for his surroundings, and thus 'sets' his face into an interesting rictus
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6 years, 8 months ago
he is sure that he is not attractive enough for his surroundings, and thus 'sets' his face into an interesting rictus
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6 years, 8 months ago
mediated
(en)
intervened with, through an intermediary
325
a fairly familiar postmodern defence of poetry: We are all trapped in modes of inauthenticity, all of us mediated by discourses more powerful than the mere individual's
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6 years, 8 months ago
a fairly familiar postmodern defence of poetry: We are all trapped in modes of inauthenticity, all of us mediated by discourses more powerful than the mere individual's
notable
6 years, 8 months ago
censorious
(en)
(adjective) marked by or given to censure; severely critical of others
329
he could be captious, censorious, bullying
notable
6 years, 8 months ago
he could be captious, censorious, bullying
notable
6 years, 8 months ago
captious
(en)
(adjective) marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections / (adjective) calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument
329
he could be captious, censorious, bullying
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6 years, 8 months ago
he could be captious, censorious, bullying
confirm
6 years, 8 months ago
vicissitudes
(en)
(noun) a change or variation occurring in the course of something; successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs
332
an ideal, a kind of abstract utopia, a recovered country free of vicissitudes
notable
6 years, 8 months ago
an ideal, a kind of abstract utopia, a recovered country free of vicissitudes
notable
6 years, 8 months ago