Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Appropriate even if untrue; happily invented: a story that is ben trovato.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Well feigned; well invented: a part of a familiar Italian saying, Se non è vero, è ben trovato (If it is not true, it is well imagined), sometimes introduced, in various relations, in English.
Etymologies
- Italian, from the saying se è non vero, è ben trovato, (even) if it is not true, it is well invented : ben, well + trovato, past participle of trovare, to find, invent. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Set a thief to catch a thief,' as one of my, what may be called, unfriendly critics has written about me, and the remark was ben trovato at all events, for I certainly did know something about blockade-running.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ben trovato’.
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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jmjarmstrong's list
Words that I used to know.
geloscopy, hunker, willy nilly, harum scarum, whacko, meh, nork, misunderestimate, atrabiliousness, luftmensch, auxanometer, hyperhedonia and 1948 more...
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just because
Not all English. Apologies.
bongo-bongoism, spiv, igg, wormwood, umbra, circean, woodnote, dormouse, ben trovato, exonym, apologetics, tuesday and 8 more...
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Who are these people?
Not quite fictional, but not quite real either - they exist in some kind of mythic dreamspace/otherworld of our shared imagination.
jack frost, john bull, john barleycorn, tom o' bedlam, alderman lushington, uncle sam, davy jones, tom noddy, old nick, kathleen ni houlihan, (an) sean-bhean b..., germania and 63 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ben trovato.
jmjarmstrong JM reckons a suitable alias would be Ben Trovato Mar 8, 2009