Literary notes about fine (AI summary)
In literature, "fine" serves as a remarkably versatile adjective, used to describe everything from the quality of weather to the refinement of character and even technical precision. It appears in depictions of nature, as when a "fine breeze" or "fine day" sets a mood in [1], [2], and [3], while also elevating character traits, exemplified by remarks such as "you look fine" or calling someone "a fine fellow" in [4] and [5]. The term extends its reach into the tangible, quantifiable realm—whether it’s used to indicate the delicacy of cloth or the precise grinding of materials, as in [6] and [7]—or to express abstract qualities like the refined thoughts a composer might evoke [8] or the sensitive emotional currents within a person [9]. This wide-ranging use underscores how "fine" establishes nuances of quality, precision, and elegance across diverse literary contexts.
- A fine breeze blew from the south-west, and the “Bonadventure” tacked on leaving Port Balloon so as to reach Reptile End.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - So, having done with Hosier, I took boat again the beginning of the flood, and come home by nine at night, with much pleasure, it being a fine day.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys - The next morning he took a walking-stick when he went out, and, luckily, it was a fine day.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - At the door he embraced her, and announced, “Well, well, well, well, by golly, you look fine, you look fine.”
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - ‘Well, my little foal, you are a fine fellow!’ said the youth.
— from The Red Fairy Book - I ground it fine with a hammer and hid the glass in my pocket.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - I made bandages of handkerchiefs, and dressed my wounds as best I could, and then put on my fine suit, which on a winter’s day would look odd enough.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - This is famous for a composer—it inspires so many fine thoughts.
— from The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - There were his fine sensibilities, his fine feelings, his fine longings—a sort of sublimated, idealised selfishness.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
