ben trovato

American  

[ben truh-vah-toh, ben traw-vah-taw] / bɛn trəˈvɑ toʊ, bɛn trɔˈvɑ tɔ /

adjective

1. appropriate and characteristic even if untrue; happily invented or discovered.

---

Etymology

Origin of ben trovato

First recorded in 1770–75; from Italian: literally, “well found,” in full, Se non è vero, è molto ben trovato “If it isn’t true, it is very well found, happily invented,” a saying especially associated with Giordano Bruno, 16th-century Italian philosopher

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ben trovato

Douglas Jerrold, in his well-known "Punch's Letters to his Son," gives an anecdote of which we can only say, si non è vero, è ben trovato.

From Umbrellas and Their History by William Sangster

Se non vero e' ben trovato, as regards the circumstance.

From Cornelius O'Dowd Upon Men And Women And Other Things In General by Charles James Lever

The details are filled in by a hand evidently well conversant with his subject, and everything is ben trovato, if not actually true.

From Nevermore by Rolf Bolderwood

So great was the pluck of this little community, that they even edited a paper called the Ladysmith Lyre, a species of Transvaal edition of Truth, which, if not vero, was certainly ben trovato.

From South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 2 (of 6) From the Commencement of the War to the Battle of Colenso, 15th Dec. 1899 by Louis Creswicke

Let us have a story which, se non è vero, è ben trovato.

From Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. by Thomas Forester

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---