Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as auto de fe. [This Portuguese form, commonly written
auto da fė or auto-da-fė, was the first introduced, and has been most used in English literature.]
Wiktionary
- n. alternative form of auto da fe.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A judgment of the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal condemning or acquitting persons accused of religious offenses.
- n. An execution of such sentence, by the civil power, esp. the burning of a heretic. It was usually held on Sunday, and was made a great public solemnity by impressive forms and ceremonies.
- n. A session of the court of Inquisition.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the burning to death of heretics (as during the Spanish Inquisition)
Examples
“The preacher admits that he broke his promise back in September to foreswear such a literary auto-da-fe.”
The Huffington Post: John Feffer: The Geopolitics of Stupidity
“Holbrooke was game, but if you ever dreamed of seeing a government official confronted with the undeniable, the unexplainable and the inescapable -- well this was such a public auto-da-fe.”
The Huffington Post: Stanton Peele: The Incredible Rachelness of Maddow
“Conceived by Bernstein and writer Lillian Hellman as a response to the era's anti-communism, the musical borrows from Voltaire's narrative, which flings a naive hero, Candide, across continents and into ghastly tragedies - wars, an earthquake, mass rape, an auto-da-fe - while he clings to his belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds.”
The Washington Post: An acclaimed director leaps into the musical world with 'Candide'
“DiaryLand contact random entry other diaries: realitykills abetterme33 lust - painted-eyes cached auto-da-fe minstrelite fightfeedfuk”
“Given the serial sexual shenanigans of the then Tory administration along with its alleged animus against lone parents, the party set itself up for the media auto-da-fe which then ensued.”
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...
“THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING UPDATE VI: Drudge, Malkin and the freepers (no links - why feed the beast?) are now giddily outing other YouTubers as supporters of Obama, Edwards, etc., as though not being a loyal Bushie, let alone asking a question about lead paint in toys or abortion, were sufficient grounds for an auto-da-fe.”
Marty Kaplan: CNN Flack Sez I'm "Pretty Infuriating" [Updated]
“Until now the rest of the world (or Greece) had supinely sat back and watched this curious Athenian act of auto-da-fe.”
John Fletcher: The Iraq Expedition: Greek Drama About an American Tragedy
“No, the Steyn auto-da-fe is not being widely reported, except by the usual suspects.”
“And of course that's also why monotheism is often so brutal to dissenters, so attached to the notion of heresy, to the rack and the auto-da-fe.”
“Today I read about auto-da-fe, literally "act of faith".”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘auto-da-fe’.
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Worse Than They Sound
fistula, cryptosporidium, debride, donnybrook, decerebrate, pillory, flagellate, disembogue, minatory, micturate, coprolite, nosocomial and 159 more...
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SCRUBJAYS IDIOM
EXTRAPOLATE, altruistic, misanthropic, predicate, pejoritive, disparaging, bucolic, sylvan, veracity, autodidact, jejune, erudite and 110 more...
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Moby-Dick
Interesting words and usages.
hypo, spile, hunks, grapnel, squitchy, skrimshander, monkey jacket, direful, grego, wrapall, dreadnaught, bosky and 158 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Papageno's Words, Pt. I
hobbledehoy, absquatulate, chthonic, prolix, ululate, internecine, verisimilitude, animadversion, concupiscence, vertiginous, cucullate, lucubrate and 1554 more...
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Extinguishish
A list of managed departures.
jettison, demolition, clearance, chucking, disposal, defenestration, remove, exile, excommunicate, eradicate, banish, deport and 114 more...
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religous
soteriology, haruspex, sympathetic magic, cargo cult, songline, deus ex machina, augury, bibliomancy, iconoclasm, teleology, eschatology, zoolatry and 56 more...
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colebert's list
sanguine, ersatz, dyspeptic, shibboleth, jejune, bilious, memento mori, weasel words, legerdemain, mauvais foi, phlegmatic, ingenue and 16 more...
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lobsterphone's list
hapax legomenon, macguffin, vermicular, holy see, scourge, auto-da-fe, diorama, maelstrom, curmudgeon, meandering, helter skelter, topsy turvy and 5 more...
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Je parle francais, apparently
All of these were added to my general list before I realized that I have way too much French in my vocabulary.
pamplemousse, auto-da-fe, trebuchet, sangfroid, avoirdupois, chichi, tutoyons, bourgeois, aubergine, bivouac, vichyssoise, touche and 3 more...
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French words
pamplemousse, temeraire, royaume, esperance, provençal, courtoisie, pèlerinage, aile, verre, auto-da-fe, couleuvre, farfouiller and 3 more...
yarb "'Though there are no Auto-da-Fe's in Lima now,' said one of the company to another; 'I fear our sailor friend runs risks of the archiepiscopacy.'"
- Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 54 Jul 25, 2008