ben trovato
Americanadjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Although the story involves an absurd anachronism, it is ben trovato in so far as it records the impression which the graver sort of Christian poetry was likely to make on heathen minds.
From A Literary History of the Arabs by Reynold Nicholson
Perhaps at points the romantic may infringe upon the historic, but: Se non e vero, E ben trovato.
From The Bay State Monthly — Volume 2, No. 5, February, 1885 by Various
"It is, at least, ben trovato," broke in Forester; "yet I go further, and place perfect confidence in his narratives, and truly I have heard some strange ones in our morning rides together."
From The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II) by Charles James Lever
Which, if it be not true, is ben trovato.
From Legends of Florence Collected from the People, First Series by Charles Godfrey Leland
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
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.
