1.
If you describe something as ~, you mean that it has a wonderful quality that affects you deeply. (LITERARY)
Sublime music floats on a scented summer breeze to the spot where you lie.
ADJ: usu ADJ n approval
•
You can refer to ~ things as the ~.
She elevated every rare small success to the ~.
N-SING: the N
~ly
...the most ~ly beautiful of all living things.
ADV: usu ADV adj
•
If you describe something as going from the ~ to the ridiculous, you mean that it involves a change from something very good or serious to something silly or unimportant.
At times the show veered from the ~ to the ridiculous.
PHRASE: PHR after v
2.
You can use ~ to emphasize a quality that someone or something has, usually a quality that is undesirable or negative. (FORMAL or LITERARY)
The administration’s ~ incompetence is probably temporary...
He displayed a ~ indifference to the distinction between right and wrong.
ADJ: usu ADJ n emphasis
~ly
Mrs Trollope was ~ly uninterested in what she herself wore.
ADV: usu ADV adj