Aphorisms Definition & Meaning

Other Words from aphorism

aphorist \ ˈa-fə-rist

\ noun

aphoristic \ ˌa-fə-ˈri-stik

\ adjective

aphoristically \ ˌa-fə-ˈri-sti-k(ə-)lē

\ adverb

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Aphorism was originally used in the world of medicine. Credit Hippocrates, the Greek physician regarded as the father of modern medicine, with influencing our use of the word. He used aphorismos (a Greek ancestor of aphorism meaning "definition" or "aphorism") in titling a book outlining his principles on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. That volume offered many examples that helped to define aphorism, beginning with the statement that starts the book's introduction: "Life is short, Art long, Occasion sudden and dangerous, Experience deceitful, and Judgment difficult." English speakers originally used the term mainly in the realm of the physical sciences but eventually broadened its use to cover principles in other fields.

Examples of aphorism in a Sentence

Confronted by a broadminded, witty, and tolerant cosmopolitan, for whom the infinite varieties of human custom offered a source of inexhaustible fascination, Thucydides presented himself as a humorless nationalist, an intellectual given to political aphorisms and abstract generalizations. — Peter Green, New York Review of Books, 15 May 2008 It doesn't take long to learn that a lie always unravels and that it always ends up making you feel royally cruddy. "Do the kind of work during the day that allows you to sleep at night" was an aphorism my grandfather was fond of. — Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Newsweek, 6 Mar. 2006 The Sun twice went into journalism legend. Its city editor John Bogart is generally credited with the aphorism "When a dog bites a man, that's not news. But when a man bites a dog, that's news." And the paper delivered America's most treasured editorial in 1897, when a young girl, whose playmates had told her there was no Santa Claus, wrote and asked the Sun to tell her the truth. — Peter Andrews, American Heritage, October 1994 Truman is remembered as much today for his aphorisms as his policies: "The buck stops here," "If you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen," and the like. Such slogans are endearing in a time of plastic politicians who make a career of ducking responsibilities … — Ronald Steel, New Republic, 10 Aug. 1992 When decorating, remember the familiar aphorism, “less is more.” what does the aphorism “Hindsight is 20/20” mean? See More

Recent Examples on the Web Still, the two-types-of-runner theory is one of those ideas that brings to mind the statistician George Box’s aphorism: All models are wrong, but some are useful. — Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 17 Oct. 2020 In a single letter, Walpole might wander from war to weddings to art and anecdote and aphorism. — Catherine Ostler, WSJ, 15 Apr. 2022 What a lot of people don't know is that that's only half the aphorism. — Sarah Vitak, Scientific American, 15 Mar. 2022 Variations of that famous aphorism are attributed to California Senator Hiram Johnson at the turn of the 20th century and the ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus, among others. — Michael Posner, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2022 There’s an aphorism in journalism (attributed to Jesse Lynch Williams) that when a dog bites a man, that’s not news. — Kevin Fisher-paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Mar. 2022 His ability to turn a line or two of slapstick aphorism into cut-crystal wisdom is up there with anyone. — Corey Seymour, Rolling Stone, 16 Feb. 2022 But the aphorism glides over the fact that for most of human history, nature has also been opaque, requiring that humanity stumble upon its inventions entirely by chance. — New York Times, 24 Nov. 2021 The garden’s rehabilitation may well reflect the aphorism that perfect is the enemy of good. — Washington Post, 7 July 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aphorism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.