different between starched vs solemn

English

Verb

starched

1. simple past tense and past participle of starch

Adjective

starched (comparative more starched, superlative most starched)

1. Of a garment: having had starch applied.
2. Stiff, formal, rigid; prim and proper.
   • 1712, Jonathan Swift, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, in The Works of Jonathan Swift, Dublin: George Faulkner, 1751, Volume 1, pp. 102-103,^[1]

     Does the Gospel any where prescribe a starched squeezed Countenance, a stiff formal Gait, a Singularity of Manners and Habit, or any affected Modes of Speech, different from the reasonable Part of Mankind?

   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, London: J. Johnson, Part 1, Chapter 5, Section 3, pp. 217-218,^[2]

     A cultivated understanding, and an affectionate heart, will never want starched rules of decorum—something more substantial than seemliness will be the result; and, without understanding the behaviour here recommended, would be rank affectation.

   • 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy, Volume 2, Chapter 8,^[3]

     I was not a little startled at recognising in his companions that very Morris on whose account I had been summoned before Justice Inglewood, and Mr. MacVittie the merchant, from whose starched and severe aspect I had recoiled on the preceding day.

   • 1961, Bernard Malamud, A New Life, Penguin, 1968, p. 107,^[4]

     ‘ […] CD is a fair-enough scholar but starched like my grand-daddy’s collar.’

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:starched.

Anagrams

• cartshed, destarch, herd cats

English

Etymology

From Middle English solempne, solemne (“performed with religious ceremony or reverence; devoted to religious observances, sacred; ceremonious, formal; of a vow: made under a religious sanction, binding; religious celebration, celebration of a feast day; famous, well-known; important; grand, imposing; awe-inspiring, impressive; grave, serious; dignified; enunciated or held formally”) [and other forms], from Old French solempne, solemne (“serious, solemn”) [and other forms], or from its etymon Late Latin s?lempnis, s?lennis, from Latin s?lemnis, from sollemnis (“appointed, established, fixed; common, customary, ordinary, ritual, traditional, usual; ceremonial, religious, solemn; festive; annual, yearly”) [and other forms]. The further etymology is uncertain; sollus (“entire, whole”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *solh?- (“whole”)) + epulum (“banquet, feast”) (in the sense of a ritual; perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h?ed- (“to eat”)) has been suggested.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?l?m/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?l?m/
• Hyphenation: sol?emn

Adjective

solemn (comparative solemner or more solemn, superlative solemnest or most solemn)

1. (religion, specifically Christianity) Of or pertaining to religious ceremonies and rites; (generally) religious in nature; sacred.
2. (by extension)
   1. Characterized by or performed with appropriate or great ceremony or formality.
   2. Deeply serious and sombre; grave.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:serious

      Antonyms: lighthearted, unserious

   3. Inspiring serious feelings or thoughts; sombrely impressive.

      Synonym: awe-inspiring

   4. (obsolete) Cheerless, gloomy, sombre.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cheerless

      Antonyms: cheerful; see also Thesaurus:blissful

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• solemnity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• solemn (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Lemnos, Melson, Selmon, Smolen, lemons, losmen, melons, nmoles

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sollemnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /so?lemn/

Adjective

solemn m or n (feminine singular solemn?, masculine plural solemni, feminine and neuter plural solemne)

1. solemn, grave, serious
2. impressive, exalted
3. festive, celebratory

Declension

Synonyms

• (grave): grav, serios
• (festive): festiv, s?rb?toresc

Related terms

• solemnitate