the style or idiom of Attic Greek occurring in another dialect or language.
attachment to Athens or to the style, customs, etc., of the Athenians.
concise and elegant expression, diction, or the like.
the idiom or character of the Attic dialect of Ancient Greek, esp in the Hellenistic period
an elegant, simple, and clear expression
First recorded in 1605–15, atticism is from the Greek word Attikismós a siding with Athens, an Attic expression. See Attic, -ism
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They have, it seems, a certain Urbanitas, or Atticism, in their Language, of which the common Ears are ever sensible, though only their great Speakers attain to it.
From The History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada Part I, Part II by Colden, Cadwallader
The first character, then, to be described, is the Orator who, according to some, is the only one that has any just pretensions to Atticism.
From Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker. by Jones, E.
It was not till Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49, after Hortensius had died, and Cicero had been pushed aside as a futile statesman, that Atticism gained predominance in the schools.
From Vergil A Biography by Frank, Tenney
In prose also the Augustans upheld the refined and chaste work of classical Atticism, an ideal which they derived from the Romans of the preceding generation rather than from teachers like Apollodorus.
From Vergil A Biography by Frank, Tenney
But let it also be remembered that Lysias claims the merit of Atticism, not so much for his simplicity and want of ornament, as because he has nothing which is either faulty or impertinent.
From Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker. by Jones, E.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
