apophthegm

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.

That this apophthegm of Macintosh should have been quoted and requoted as it has, shows how profound has been the ignorance of social science.

From Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Spencer, Herbert

A great statesman is responsible for an apophthegm on that aspect of the topic which always deserves to be quoted in the same breath as Dr Johnson's familiar half-truth.

From Shakespeare and the Modern Stage with Other Essays by Lee, Sidney, Sir

Another perfect thing from this diverting piece, followed also by Homeric cachinnations, was the mock-serious apophthegm: "If a cloud is going to support a lady of substantial proportions, you must make it fairly solid."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, May 23, 1917 by Various

Between a maxim, an aphorism, and an apophthegm, and in a more obvious degree, between these and an adage and a proverb, the etymologist and the lexicographer may easily find a distinction.

From Maxims and Reflections by Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von

A proverb is distinguished from a maxim or an apophthegm by that brevity which condenses a thought or a metaphor, where one thing is said and another is to be applied.

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Disraeli, Isaac