Edifying
['ɛdə'faɪɪŋ]
Definition
(adj.) enlightening or uplifting so as to encourage intellectual or moral improvement; 'the paintings in the church served an edifying purpose even for those who could not read' .
Editor: Louise--From WordNet
Definition
(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Edify
(a.) Instructing; improving; as, an edifying conversation.
Typist: Phil
Examples
- It was very edifying, baby. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Second, that he had forgiven everybody else, and had made a most edifying end. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Mrs. Bute certainly thought herself one of the most virtuous women in England, and the sight of her happy family was an edifying one to strangers. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- There are a perfect host of Clarksons and Wilberforces* risen up among us on that subject, most edifying to hear and behold. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- On this question there arose the edifying brow-beating, customary on such points. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Among the sights of Europe, that of Rome has ever been held one of the most striking and in some respects edifying. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- It is quite edifying to hear women speculate upon the worthlessness and the duration of beauty. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- An edifying consequence ensued. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
Typist: Phil