Meaning of incisivity | Babel Free

Definitions

The quality of being incisive; penetrating trenchancy; incisiveness.

uncountable

Examples

“The remarkable tenor qualities of De Muro, especially in the ardent incisivity of his high register⟳, the manly warmth of his tone and his exceptional breathing (Fiato), as well as his uncommon qualities of interpretation, capable of violent dramatic impulse and of lyric inflexion, remain⟳ documented in the excerpts he recorded of “Isabeau” in 1912, a testimony, at least auditive, of what was his legendary Folco.”

“A true witness of his times and the men that have⟳ lived in them, [Al. Rosetti] has sketched with a firm hand unforgettable portraits of an illustrious series of friends, in a ‘White Book[’], and has never disclosed the virulent pages in which he describes human larvae with the incisivity of steel engravings for a possible Black Book.”

“[T]hey pertain mainly to the anthropological perspective, to the specific language it uses and, last⟳ but not least, to a lack of courage and incisivity.”

“The humorous writer caught not only the sound⟳ of dialogues and words, but also their human substance, the circumstance in which they were uttered, and afterwards, recasting everything, [I. L. Caragiale] produced, out of his inexhaustible retort, highly vivid, authentic types, either moulded with kindness or drawn with incisivity. […] [T]o promote⟳ society by purging it of its vices[: t]o this end⟳ [comedy writers] make⟳ good use⟳ of the incisivity of the satire.”

“Their personality features concern⟳: the desire of assuming intellectual risks, perseverance in solving problems, curiosity and incisivity, opening to new experience⟳, working discipline, intolerance to the rules and limits imposed by others, searching for competence, reflexivity, tolerance to ambiguity, intuition, direct⟳ and spontaneous interest⟳ for work⟳, a wide variety of interests.”

“Based on a ‘whirling sketch⟳’, now in Lille, it depicts ‘profiles of extraordinary incisivity’ that fully support⟳ the circularity of the tondo form⟳, showing a ‘miraculous unity of linear dynamism and plastic solidity’ (Carli 1983: 112).”

CEFR level