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Opus vs Attempt - What's the difference?

opus | attempt | Synonyms |

As nouns the difference between opus and attempt

is that opus is a work of music or set of works with a specified rank in an ordering of a composer's complete published works while attempt is the action of trying at something.

As a verb attempt is

to try.

opus

English

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A work of music or set of works with a specified rank in an ordering of a composer's complete published works.
  • Beethoven's ''opus'' eighteen quartets are considered by many to be the beginning of the Romantic era.
  • A work, especially of art.
  • The painter's last opus was a dedication to all things living, in a surprising contrast to all of his prior work.

    Usage notes

    The most common plural of opus'' in English is ''opuses''. Some people use the Latin plural, ''opera''. ''Opi'' is fairly common in the field of classical music, though mostly in informal contexts. The use of any of these three pluralizations may result in the speaker being corrected, though ''opi'' above all should be avoided in formal contexts. Outside of music, the word ''opus'' sees particularly frequent use in the expression ''magnum opus .

    attempt

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To try.
  • I attempted to sing, but my throat was too hoarse.
    to attempt an escape from prison
  • * Longfellow
  • Something attempted , something done, / Has earned a night's repose.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Sarah Glaz
  • , title= Ode to Prime Numbers , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}
  • (obsolete) To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt.
  • * Thackeray
  • It made the laughter of an afternoon / That Vivien should attempt the blameless king.
  • (archaic) To try to win, subdue, or overcome.
  • one who attempts the virtue of a woman
  • * Shakespeare
  • Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further: / Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute.
  • (archaic) To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force.
  • to attempt the enemy's camp
  • * Motley
  • without attempting his adversary's life

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    * take a stab at, take a run at

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The action of trying at something.
  • * We made an attempt to cross the stream, but didn't manage.
  • * This poem is much better than the feeble attempt of mine.
  • * It was worth the attempt .
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
  • , author=William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter , title=The British Longitude Act Reconsidered , volume=100, issue=2, page=87 , magazine= citation , passage=But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea}}
  • An assault or attack, especially an assassination attempt.
  • * 1584' ''No man can charge us of any '''attempt against the realm. (Allen's Defence Of English Catholics, cited after Edinburgh review 1883, p. 378)
  • Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "attempt": first, failed, desperate, last, half-hearted, unsuccessful, serious, successful, feeble, new, honest, vain, sincere, ambitious, earnest, clumsy, direct, hard, brilliant, official, useless, clever, sophisticated, amateurish.

    Synonyms

    * effort * try

    Statistics

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