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.
"It is certain," said Phellion, "that the leading article seems to me to be stamped with vigor joined to an atticism which we may seek in vain in the columns of the other public prints."
From The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Balzac, Honoré de
These censures can never be just upon a poet, whose style has always been allowed to be perfectly attick, and of an atticism which made him extremely delightful to the lovers of the Athenian taste.
From The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 05 Miscellaneous Pieces by Johnson, Samuel
Rome gave the palm to Atticism, and modern oratory has gone still farther in the same direction, until its predominant quality has become that of making sustained appeals to the understanding.
From Daniel Webster by Lodge, Henry Cabot
We need not accept literally Pliny’s praises of his Atticism, and of the grace and sweetness of his Greek epigrams.
From Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Dill, Samuel
And even in Athens the burden of Atticism, if we may say so, seems to have become too great to bear.
From The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius by Cruttwell, Charles Thomas
If only one, this will be a tacit implication, that none of the rest were true masters of Atticism: if all, how can you possibly succeed, when their characters are so opposite?
From Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker. by Jones, E.
This classical renaissance turned back the literary language into the old ossified forms, as had previously happened in the case of the Atticism of the early centuries of the empire.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various
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.
