October 2006

Notable and Quotable

British writer Graham Greene was born October 2, 1904. The novelist famed for his exploration of moral ambiguities is cited close to three dozen times in the Unabridged Dictionary. Some of his citations are for obscure words; many consist of colorful descriptions. But all feature fine writing.

It's easy to check on writers whose words are quoted in the dictionary. First, choose your reference, then click on Advanced Search. Type the last name of the author in the Authors Quoted field, and click on Search.

Boyg noun ("a formless or pervasive obstacle, problem, or enemy")
"battling against the great amorphous Boyg"

fret verb
"the . . . urgent voice fretted at his nerves"

hedge verb
"remembered that no great divinity hedges this sovereign"

laocoon noun ("one that struggles heroically with crushing or baffling difficulties")
"gives the impression of being . . . forced into laocoon attitudes"

lubricious adjective
"a little lubricious book . . . on a bed table by a pink-shaded lamp"

lucidity noun
"when the spirit is drawn to lucidity by the immediacy of death"

pink adjective
"would get quite pink on the subject"

tang adjective
"treated murder as a joke with a tang to it"

tingle verb
"rain tingled steadily on the roof"

wayward adjective
"there was no room in that precision for the eccentricity, the wayward act"


« Report from the Open Dictionary | Main | From the Mail Server »