In my preceding chapters I have tried, by going into the minutiae of the science of piloting, to carry the reader step by step to a comprehension of what the science consists of .... Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, 1883
In a thank-you note to his devotees that he tweeted last week, the congressman offered a similar lulling density of minutiae. Katy Waldman, "Beto O'Rourke's Rebirth as a Knausgaardian Blogger," The New Yorker, November 16, 2018
... on his head—pressing down his erumpent red hair—the vaguely Westernish broad-brimmed hat that signalled his difference from other philosophers (as if any such signal were needed) .... John Gardner, Mickelsson's Ghosts, 1982
Minutes passed, sun-bathed, as they crossed a stretch of open land; the river slowed, the valley wider, furrowed fields flanking the highway, an erumpent green from rich black soil. David Bosworth, "Psalm," Death of Descartes, 1981
Eric has been a wordie since he was a kid growing up in New York City, a Games magazine acolyte who read the dictionary for fun and subscribes to Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics ... Stefan Fatsis, Word Freak, 2001
As a teacher of English, a part-time poet and a full-time wordie, I took genuine delight in Patricia T. O’Conner’s review of books about language by Ben Yagoda and David Crystal .... Stephen J. Kudless, "Speech, Speech!" Letter to the Editor, New York Times, April 1, 2007
... his faith is pure, though his manners are flagitious. Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776–1788
He should have persisted in gloom, which would eventually earn a commercial reward that outran the avarice of his most flagitious villains. Caleb Crain, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," New York Times, December 6, 1998
... a tasteful and récherché stock of frames and feathers and ribbons was chosen .... William Dean Howells, A Woman's Reason, 1882
But, among the books which load their shelves, there is the most recherché collection of European standard works to be found in this country .... "Scribner & Co.," New York Times, December 12, 1874
... I had found that in entering with aplomb, and mounting the estrade with emphasis, consisted the grand secret of ensuring immediate silence. Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, 1857
Whether he was coached in the art of transcendental stillness by his mother, whose acting career is not long over, has yet to be revealed, but he performed his task with aplomb. Anthony Lane, "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Introduce Their Son, a Royal Named Archie," The New Yorker, May 8, 2019
Historiated initials often emphasize the praiseworthiness of a certain paragraph with an elaborately illustrated letter. Emma Green, "The Emoji Bible, Reviewed," The Atlantic, June 9, 2016
At the request of Queen Claude, he used historiated rather than purely decorative borders. Roberta Smith, "Heaven and Earth, Sized to Grasp," New York Times, June 5, 2014