Arrant vs Extreme - What's the difference?
arrant | extreme |
Utter; complete.
* circa 1600 , (William Shakespeare), (Hamlet) , scene 1:
Of a place, the most remote, farthest or outermost.
In the greatest or highest degree; intense.
* , chapter=13
, title= Excessive, or far beyond the norm.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03
, author=Frank Fish, George Lauder, volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist)
, title= Drastic, or of great severity.
Of sports, difficult or dangerous; performed in a hazardous environment.
(archaic) Ultimate, final or last.
The greatest or utmost point, degree or condition.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2
, passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.
Each of the things at opposite ends of a range or scale.
A drastic expedient.
(mathematics) Either of the two numbers at the ends of a proportion, as 1'' and ''6'' in ''1:2=3:6 .
(archaic) Extremely.
* 1796 Charles Burney, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Metastasio 2.5:
As an adjective arrant
is utter; complete.As a noun extreme is
.arrant
English
Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete)Adjective
(er)- arrant nonsense!'' Thomas Bennet, A Brief History of the Joint Use of Recompos'd Set Forms of Prayer...to wich is annexed a Discourse of the Gost of Prayer],
p. 187
- We are arrant knaves all; believe none of us.
Usage notes
Particularly used in the phrase “arrant' knaves”, quoting ''Hamlet,'' and “' arrant nonsense”.Safire, 2006, considers “arrant nonsense” to be “wedded words”, a form of a fixed phrase. Some dictionaries consider arrant simply an alternative form of errant, but in usage they have long since split. The word has long been considered archaic, may be confused with errant, and is used primarily in , on which basis some recommend against using it.References
arrant/errant”, Common Errors in English Usage, Paul Brians *
On Language: Arrant Nonsense, (William Safire), January 22, 2006, (New York Times) * Merriam–Webster’s dictionary of English usage, 1995,
“errant, arrant”, pp. 406–407
extreme
English
Adjective
(en-adj)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.}}
Not Just Going with the Flow, passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
- the extreme hour of life
Synonyms
* (place) farthest, furthest, most distant, outermost, remotest * (in greatest or highest degree) greatest, highest * (excessive) excessive, too much * (drastic) drastic, severe * (sports) dangerous * (ultimate) final, last, ultimateAntonyms
* (place) closest, nearest * (in greatest or highest degree) least * (excessive) moderate, reasonable * (drastic) moderate, reasonableDerived terms
* extremenessNoun
(en noun)Adverb
(en adverb)- In the empty and extreme cold theatre.