NEW FEATURE
Double-click
any English word
for its translation !
|
|
Your choice was correct!
Definition:
a) the quality of seeming true or of having the appearance of reality
German translation:
verisimilitude = die Wahrscheinlichkeit, der Realismus
---
GOOGLE INDEX
verisimilitude: approximately1, 200,000 Google hits
Sample text:
The painting owes its VERISIMILITUDE to a number of groundbreaking innovations. Its life-size figures are rendered with a new kind of sculptural modelling, which makes them seem to occupy real space.
(Wall Street Journal)
---
The show has a sure moral compass and a daring to take the violence to the level of Shakespeare or the Greek Tragedy while maintaining VERISIMILITUDE with brilliant dialogue and perfect art and set direction...
(The Internet Movie Database)
Did you know?
verisimilitude
noun
- the quality of seeming true or of having the appearance of reality
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Verisimilitude came to English via the French verisimilitude (1540s) and further from the Latin verisimilitudo (a likeness to the truth), which combines "very" (true) and "similis" (similar).
Verisimilitude is described as the quality of appearing to be true or depicting reality. In storytelling, the audience contributes to the experience by agreeing to suspend their belief. The more the story resembles reality — even in small details — the easier it is for the audience to become engaged with it. Verisimilitude is especially important in alternate reality computer games.
Storytellers and filmmakers use many tricks to achieve verisimilitude, including references to popular culture and other works of art, music or literature, injecting naturalistic dialogue, using low-quality camera work and making sure the characters exhibit human traits.
The standards of verisimilitude constantly change with audience tastes and cultural trends. French audiences in the 1890s watching the first silent film footage of an oncoming train ran screaming from the theaters. Marlon Brando's early film work was considered groundbreaking in its realism to audiences of the time, whereas those same performances are now considered overwrought and theatrical.
Many filmmakers rely on a combination of a good story and technology to maintain verisimilitude. In his blockbuster Titanic, James Cameron used extraordinary special effects and the star appeal of Leonardo DiCaprio to bring millions of young female moviegoers to tears when the lead character Jack slips under the water near the film's conclusion.
(partially adapted from Lostpedia)
---
SYNONYMS
authenticity, credibility, likeness, plausibility, realism, similarity, veracity
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Modern film creates so much verisimilitude, you forget you are sitting in the cinema."
And now...
Today's Learning Tip (2):
The 24-Hour Rule
Your memory for new words will be dramatically improved if you repeat your learning AFTER 24 hours. Besides learning your daily word, I strongly advise you to REVIEW YESTERDAY’S WORD . This will double your learning effectiveness. You can do this easily on the OWAD site by clicking the link at the end of each day’s word explanation.
more learning tips
Building your English day by day...
Let others enjoy One-Word-A-Day too!
OWAD is a free English training programme run by enthusiastic people who
support open communication and personal growth. Please do spread the word
and recommend us to a colleague or friend:
Recommend it now!
Thanks!
Paul Smith
|
|
