Literary notes about thick (AI summary)
The adjective "thick" is deployed in literature with remarkable versatility, serving both literal and metaphorical functions. It frequently denotes density or heaviness in the physical world: authors describe environments like a dense forest [1] or fog so enveloping it obscures vision [2, 3], while in architecture it characterizes robust constructions such as heavy walls [4] or even a letter of considerable heft [5]. Beyond the tangible, "thick" also conveys a quality of impenetrability or obstinacy, as in a character’s “thick head” [6, 7], or suggests overwhelming emotions and atmospheres—a thick gloom settling over a scene [8, 9] or dense, unyielding silence [10]. Additionally, it captures textural and sensory richness when referring to physical attributes, whether describing luxuriant hair [11, 12] or robust, tactile fabrics [13, 14].
- He went from the fields into a thick woods, as if resolved to bury himself.
— from The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War by Stephen Crane - W. fifteen miles; but the fog was so thick all day that we could see nothing.
— from Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana - At seven o'clock the day was sufficiently advanced, but a very thick sea fog obscured our view, and the best spy glasses could not pierce it.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - The walls are thick, the doors strong, and the bars solid; besides, your window opens immediately over the sea.
— from The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - At last he opened it; it was a thick heavy letter, weighing over two ounces, two large sheets of note paper were covered with very small handwriting.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - 'I would have done as much—had it struck my thick head,' Mahbub growled.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - (2) National thick-headedness (which simplifies and concentrates).
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Nietzsche - Thick dusk had descended outside, and as the limousine made a sudden turn she was jolted against him; their hands touched.
— from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Wherever he turned, doubts like a thick fog surrounded him,--doubts of God, of his fellow-men, of human progress, of himself.
— from English Literature by William J. Long - There could only be heard in this thick darkness the sound of a measured and firm step dying away in the distance.
— from The History of a Crime by Victor Hugo - The thick fair hair which fell picturesquely over his shoulders tended somewhat to modify his robust appearance.
— from The Birth of Tragedy; or, Hellenism and Pessimism by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - Her thick, glossy hair rose like a silver diadem from her brow.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin - The luxurious apartment, of an elegant simplicity, was upholstered with materials as thick as walls, with a soft inviting surface.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - This hood is of thick blue cloth, attached to a cloak of the same stuff, and is a marvel of ugliness.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
