Apothegm

/ˈæ.pə.θɛm/ · noun

Meaning

A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim..

Example Sentences

Every glaſs of wine, or bit almoſt, that I committed to my mouth, ſhe uſhered thither with ſome Apothegm or other: the whole ſeries, indeed, of her diſcourſe, was compoſed of nothing but reaſon or wit, which made me admire her; which ſhe eaſily underſtood, I perceived by her ſmiles, when ſhe obſerved me gaping, as it were, when ſhe ſpoke, as if I would have eaten up her Words.

The account which he [James Ferguson] himself gives of these observations is exceedingly interesting, and strikingly brings out the ingenuity of his mind, and his determination to allow no difficulties of circumstances to stand in his way. [...] Thus we are reminded of the apothegm that where there's a will there's a way—an apothegm which has found illustration in every department of effort, but nowhere more frequently than in the progress of science and art.

"You are too wonderful!" he would say. "How do you find time for everything?" She rejoined with the apophthegm that made the rounds of Riseholme next day. "My dear, it is just busy people that have time for everything."

For the gods have withheld from the barbarians the light of discretion, as that their poetry is not, like ours, full of choice apophthegms and useful maxims, but is all of love and war.

The gnomic belief that the world is conditioned by love is no idle apothegm.

Which means roughly that business keeps one safe from love—ominous talk when one’s lover is a courtesan. I hoped that it was just another literary conceit I ought to know. (It is, I later learned, an apothegm by Ovid.)

“Fashion is not an art,” says [Pierre] Bergé, “but it takes an artist to make fashion.” The 84-year-old unburdens himself of this apothegm with the foxy charm of the late French actor Charles Boyer.

Synonyms for apothegm

Antonyms for apothegm

Related Words

Word Forms

• apothegms
• apophthegm

Usage Notes

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