different between silken vs flimsy
silken
English
Etymology
From Middle English silken, selken, seolkene, from Old English seolcen, equivalent to silk +? -en (“made of”). Cognate with Scots selkin, silkin (“silken”), Icelandic silki (“silken”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?s?lk?n/
- Hyphenation: silk?en
Adjective
silken (not comparable)
- Made of silk.
- a silken veil
- Having a smooth, soft, or light texture, like that of silk; suggestive of silk.
- 1646, Richard Crashaw, “Vpon Mr. Staninough’s Death” in Steps to the Temple: Sacred Poems, with Other Delights of the Muses, London: Humphrey Moseley, p. 40,[1]
- Come then youth, Beauty, and Blood, all ye soft powers,
- Whose silken flatteryes swell a few fond houres.
- 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, London: J. Johnson, Part I, Chapter 9, p. 322,[2]
- […] love is not to be bought, in any sense of the words, its silken wings are instantly shrivelled up when any thing beside a return in kind is sought.
- 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South, Chapter 1,[3]
- […] in spite of the buzz in the next room, Edith had rolled herself up into a soft ball of muslin and ribbon, and silken curls, and gone off into a peaceful little after-dinner nap.
- 1994, Stephen Fry, The Hippopotamus, Random House, 2010, Chapter 2, p. 37,[4]
- He heard the silken rustle of a dressing-gown being drawn on.
- 1646, Richard Crashaw, “Vpon Mr. Staninough’s Death” in Steps to the Temple: Sacred Poems, with Other Delights of the Muses, London: Humphrey Moseley, p. 40,[1]
- (figuratively, of speech, singing, oratory, etc.) Smoothly uttered; flowing, subtle, or convincing in presentation.
- c. 1594, William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act V, Scene 2,[5]
- Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise,
- Three-piled hyperboles, spruce affectation,
- Figures pedantical; these summer-flies
- Have blown me full of maggot ostentation:
- c. 1594, William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act V, Scene 2,[5]
- Dressed in silk.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, King John, Act V, Scene 1,[6]
- […] shall a beardless boy,
- A cocker’d silken wanton, brave our fields […] ?
- 1633, John Donne, “Satyre I” in Poems, London: John Marriot, p. 327,[7]
- Yet though he cannot skip forth now to greet
- Every fine silken painted foole we meet,
- He then to him with amorous smiles allures,
- 1724, Aaron Hill, The Plain Dealer, London: S. Richardson & A. Wilde, 1730, Volume 2, No. 81, 28 December, 1724, p. 197,[8]
- Last Saturday was three Weeks, at Two, in the Afternoon, I sent out my Servant, to watch a Couple of these Silken Strollers, and keep, if possible, within Ken of them.
- 1968, Jan Morris, Pax Britannica: The Climax of Empire, London: Faber & Faber, 2010, Chapter 10, p. 200,[9]
- […] the Viceroy moved magnificently through India, resplendent with all the colour and dash of the vast Empire at his feet, with his superb bodyguard jangling scarlet beside his carriage, silken Indian princes bowing at his carpet, generals quivering at the salute and ceremonial salutes of thirty-one guns […]
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, King John, Act V, Scene 1,[6]
Synonyms
- (made of silk): seric (rare)
Derived terms
- silkenly
Translations
Verb
silken (third-person singular simple present silkens, present participle silkening, simple past and past participle silkened)
- (transitive) To render silken or silklike.
- silkening body lotion
- 1757, John Dyer, The Fleece, London: R. & J. Dodsley, Book I, lines 492-494, p. 30,[10]
- Or, if your sheep are of Silurian breed,
- Nightly to house them dry on fern or straw,
- Silk’ning their fleeces.
- 1987, Derek Walcott, “The Light of the World” in The Arkansas Testament, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, p. 48,[11]
- […] these lights silkened her black skin:
Anagrams
- Elkins, Kinsel, Lesnik, inkles, k-lines, klines, likens
Middle English
Adjective
silken
- Alternative form of selken
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
silken m
- definite singular of silke
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
silken m
- definite singular of silke
silken From the web:
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flimsy
English
Etymology
Origin uncertain. First used in the 18th century. Perhaps a metathesis of film +? -s +? -y; or related to flimflam.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?fl?mzi/
Adjective
flimsy (comparative flimsier or more flimsy, superlative flimsiest or most flimsy)
- Likely to bend or break under pressure.
- Synonyms: weak, shaky, flexible, fragile
- Antonyms: robust, strong, sturdy
- 1715, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals
- All the flimsy furniture of a country miss's brain.
- (figuratively) Weak; ill-founded.
- Synonyms: weak, feeble, unconvincing
- Antonyms: well-founded, substantiated
Translations
Noun
flimsy (plural flimsies)
- Thin typing paper used to make multiple copies.
- 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, p. 251:
- Smiley peered once more at the flimsy which he still clutched in his pudgy hand.
- 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, p. 251:
- (naval slang) A service certificate
- 1964, Australia. Parliament, Records of the Proceedings and Printed Papers of the Parliament
- A perusal of the comments of officers under whom he has served as recorded in his “flimsies" indicates that he has almost consistently received high commendation for his service.
- 1994, John Wells, The Royal Navy: An Illustrated Social History, 1870-1982 (page 7)
- Regulations required a commanding officer to render annual confidential reports on the character and ability of his officers - with particular reference to sobriety - on forms known as 'flimsies'.
- 1964, Australia. Parliament, Records of the Proceedings and Printed Papers of the Parliament
- (informal, in the plural) Skimpy underwear.
- (slang) A banknote.
Translations
flimsy From the web:
- what flimsy means
- what flimsy excuse
- what flimsy paper
- flimsy what is the definition
- what causes flimsy nails
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