![]() ![]() ![]() Vholes, after glancing at the official cat who is patiently watching a mouse's hole, fixes his charmed gaze again on his young client and proceeds in his buttoned-up, half-audible voice as if there were an unclean spirit in him that will neither come out nor speak out…Īs he gave me that slowly devouring look of his … he gave one gasp as if he had swallowed the last morsel of his client, and his black buttoned-up unwholesome figure glided away to the low door at the end of the Hall. Vholes in Bleak House, published in 1853: While in modern use the term's emphasis is typically on the restraint one so described exhibits, Charles Dickens twice applied the term to one of his most despicable characters, Mr. The word buttoned-up has described those who like to keep a cool distance from others since at least the 1760s. (We should come clean here though: Johnson's unclubbable friend isn't the sort we'd aspire to be-his unclubbability was apparently related to his lack of desire to pay his share of the tab.) Though Johnson would surely have disagreed, we know that being unclubbable can be considered a virtue.Īdjective : coldly reserved or standoffish The word was apparently coined by Johnson to describe a friend who perhaps had better places to be than the Club the earliest known example of it in print is from the diary of Fanny Burney, where she quotes Johnson using the word to describe the man. It also likely provided the fertile soil in which the word unclubbable could take root. "The Club," or as it was later called "The Literary Club," provided the company Johnson needed to stave off his loneliness. We're of course not talking about the golfing implements or the suit of cards we're talking about the kind of club 18th century lexicographer Samuel Johnson established with the artist Joshua Reynolds in 1764. Many of the unclubbable among us don't much care for clubs. MORE TO EXPLORE: Does 'Bashful' Mean "Full of Bash"?Īdjective : having or showing a disinclination for social activity : unsociable These are not a species of the Viola genus Bulwer-Lytton was likely anthropomorphically suggesting the flowers were huddling or cowering on the bank. … while, unconscious as the daughter of Ceres, gathering flowers when the Hell King drew near, of the change that awaited her and the grim presence that approached on her fate, Helen bends still over the bank odorous with shrinking violets … - Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Lucretia, 1846 A person described thusly is of course not getting smaller the word shrink may typically have to do with getting smaller, but it is also used to mean "to recoil instinctively" and "to hold oneself back." As for the violet bit, that word has some use with the meaning of "an overly fastidious, modest, or retiring person," as Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary reports.ĭespite the human applications of each element of this compound term, shrinking violet was used literally before its figurative use developed in the late 19th century: That use dates to the late 19th century, while the one you label yourself after taking a personality test dates to the early 20th.Īh, the shrinking violet. Meanwhile, the noun introvert has an obscure and technical use meaning "something that can be introverted"-it's applied to such remarkable appendages as the eyestalks of certain snails and the retractile proboscis of a sipunculid worm. It's been used since at least 1683, mostly with the "possessing a reserved or shy nature typically with an inclination to solitude" meaning that's contrasted with extroverted. ![]() The adjective introverted is also older than the noun. Since the mid-17th century, introvert has meant "to turn inward or in upon itself," with more specific meanings of "to concentrate or direct upon oneself" and "to produce psychological introversion in" developing over the centuries. There are numerous interesting facts about introvert, such as its use as verb, which predates its noun use. We all know, of course, that basic doesn't mean boring. We're starting with introvert because it's the most basic of the set. Noun : one whose personality is characterized by introversion especially : a reserved or shy person who enjoys spending time alone ![]()
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