apophthegm

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The moral of this fable cannot be given until he shall get down, and close the conversation with the regular apophthegm.

From Cobwebs from an Empty Skull by Bierce, Ambrose

That this apophthegm of Macintosh should have been quoted and requoted as it has, shows how profound has been the ignorance of social science.

From Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Spencer, Herbert

On literary réclame, he says much that is true—if not the whole truth, in the apophthegm for instance, 'You have to become famous before you can secure the attention which would give fame.'

From The House of Cobwebs and Other Stories by Gissing, George

Culture, criticism, in certain sterile natures, are like Sheridan's famous apophthegm: they lie "like lumps of marl on a barren moor, encumbering what it is not in their power to fertilise."

From Essays by Benson, Arthur Christopher

A proverb is distinguished from a maxim or an apophthegm by that brevity which condenses a thought or a metaphor, where one thing is said and another is to be applied.

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Disraeli, Isaac