Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A saying that sets forth a general truth and that has gained credit through long use. See Synonyms at saying. See Usage Note at redundancy.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A pithy saying in current use; a brief familiar proverb; an expression of popular wisdom, generally figurative, in a single phrase or sentence, and of remote origin.
- n. Synonyms Aphorism, Axiom, Maxim, etc. See aphorism.
Wiktionary
- n. An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use.
- n. An old saying, which has been overused or considered a cliché; a trite maxim.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a proverb.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
Etymologies
- From French adage, from Latin adagium. (Wiktionary)
- French, from Old French, from Latin adagium. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“We will begin today with a demonstration of some of the basic, yet difficult ballet exercises, what we call the adage portion of our class, to be performed by my primary class students.”
“He said the aged adage is loyal - once we get married, the sex stops.”
“Just goes to show the old adage is true, you can take the monkey out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the monkey.”
“A popular Wall Street adage is that" gridlock is good "because it keeps the government from implementing new policies that further intervene in the private economy," the report said.”
“But sometimes this old adage is still the most apt: "The best way to get published by Marvel and DC is to get published elsewhere first.”
“A popular Wall Street adage is that gridlock is good because it keeps the government from implementing new policies that further intervene in the private economy.”
The Wall Street Journal: Economists React: Just How Good Is Gridlock?
“While the old adage is certainly true -- there are only two kinds of wine; those you like, and those you don't -- it's not true that there aren't discernible qualities in wine that should be evident to most consumers.”
Cautiously Raising a Glass to Single-Vineyard Finger Lakes Wines
“In the current era of testing for performance-enhancing substances, that adage is coming into favor again.”
“Can't remember the Greek/Latin adage, "Let the buyer beware!”
“Because, unfortunately, the old adage is true: writing = ass in chair.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘adage’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Muse's tacet ,to learn
Music brings silence's to raging thoughts and temperament , calm, as it is our object of definite purpose.
tacet, cadence, tempo, treble clef, penultimate, lexicon, origin, orchestra, kantele, magus, eros, coalesce and 248 more...
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Language
word, sentence, novel, book, novella, vignette, memoir, anthology, paragraph, stanza, poem, haiku and 123 more...
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Noteworthy Words
Here I have in mind a list of words that could be spelled with only the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G--and thus could also be played as a tune on the piano.
face, ace, bag, cage, bad, fad, fade, fee, gee, beg, fed, deaf and 98 more...
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Words related to knowledge
Words that relate to learning, knowing, being enlightened...
revelation, eureka, awakening, idea, sapient, astute, canny, intelligent, wise, sharp, shrewd, informed and 467 more...
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MyWordList
for GRE Vocab Building
eccentricity, rife, epiphany, menial, assert, plod, scathing, petty, chum, dilatory, prolific, banal and 10 more...
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Rhetorical Devices
trope, wellerism, antimetabole, syncope, open-list, accismus, abating, abbaser, abecedarian, abcisio, ablatio, abominatio and 425 more...
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common UA vocab. in US
Interesting, there is a traditional vocabulary of an Ukrainian, that differs from vocabulary of average American. It would be nice to explore it.
jackdaw, incongruous, cassock, vivid, magpie, humdrum, amongst, wonder, wandering, wheedling, wheedle, osseous and 368 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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Words to live by
adage, maxim, proverb, truism, saw, saying, aphorism, axiom, platitude, dogma, oracle, old wives' tale and 11 more...
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FUN - Jeeves and Wooster - Jeeves
"Jeevesisms" as heard from the valet Jeeves in P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves and Wooster" stories.
abject, attire, boudoir, be agog to learn, breach of peace, companionship of ..., contract an engag..., correct orifice, determined temper..., edifice, endeavor to ascer..., expatiate and 46 more...
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The Spoken Word
Words relating to Conversation
adage, adamant, brusque, candor, cavil, compelling, didactic, disparage, emphatic, facetious, frank, fulminate and 7 more...
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Shakespeare.05
vaulting, avarice, pristine, forswear, adage, summons, malice, commend, dismal, dwindle, gory, predominance and 2 more...
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See Usage Note at
Being a list of words with the phrase "See Usage Note at" in their definitions. Most of these come from the American Heritage Dictionary.
upon, seldom, among, compliment, thus, further, predicament, latter, repel, inflammable, gentleman, adage and 12 more...
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SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
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Vocab
Words that I come across, and go blank, or want to clarify.
nefarious, edifice, malevolent, ostensible, folderol, bauble, livid, amnesty, calculus, saddlery, maisonette, cuisse and 423 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for adage.
Noelle Knight There should be an adage, proud as a vampire. -Charlaine Harris, Living Dead in Dallas Dec 10, 2010
nuxiy "Appreciating the adage, that "money is power," he married Herdisa, the daughter of a priest called Bersi the Rich--a very enviable surname, which, no doubt, enabled the reverend gentleman to brave the bulls and decrees of popes and councils, and take to himself a wife--who brought him a very considerable fortune."
- Norðurfari; or, Rambles in Iceland May 20, 2009