writ large

English

Etymology

From writ (“written”) + large; a reference to Plato’s Republic, wherein he describes the state (like the city-state) as being like the individual, but larger and easier to examine[1].

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɹɪtˈlɑɹd͡ʒ/

Adjective

writ large (comparative writ larger, superlative writ largest)

Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see writ,‎ large,‎ larger,‎ largest.
- 1957 Sept. 30, "Ghana: White Eminence," Time:
  Ghana's motto, writ large on the gleaming white Independence Arch that overlooks the Atlantic in Accra, is "Freedom and Justice."
(figuratively) Magnified; on a large scale.
- 1909, H. G. Wells, Tono Bungay, ch. 8:
  Yet it seems to me indeed at times that all this present commercial civilisation is no more than my poor uncle's career writ large, a swelling, thinning bubble of assurances; that its arithmetic is just as unsound, its dividends as ill-advised, its ultimate aim as vague and forgotten.
- 1995 Jan. 23, "One Man's Ted Sorensen Is Another's Marianne Williamson," Time:
  "Public behavior is merely private character writ large."
- 2009, Thomas Pepinsky, Economic Crises and the Breakdown of Authoritarian Regimes, Cambridge University Press, New York, p. 40:
  In the case of Malaysia, for instance, the regime depends not on "labour" writ large but specifically on the unorganised Malay masses.
(figuratively) Readily discerned, unmistakably indicated.
Synonyms: clear, obvious
- 1903, Jack London, The People of the Abyss, ch. 1:
  "You don't want to live down there!" everybody said, with disapprobation writ large upon their faces.
- 1906, Joseph Conrad, The Mirror of the Sea, ch. 31:
  Meantime the old salt ("ex-coasting skipper" was writ large all over his person) had hobbled up alongside in his bumpy, shiny boots.
- 2002 Oct. 3, Andrea Sachs, "Galley Girl: The Working Mother Edition," Time:
  Bestsellerdom is writ large for this novel, sure to be greeted with rave reviews.

Usage notes

Usually placed after the noun modified.

Antonyms

writ small

References

Plato; Benjamin Jowett (translation) (380BC), “Book II”, in The Republic:
Seeing then, I said, that we are no great wits, I think that we had better adopt a method which I may illustrate thus; suppose that a short-sighted person had been asked by some one to read small letters from a distance; and it occurred to some one else that they might be found in another place which was larger and in which the letters were larger-- if they were the same and he could read the larger letters first, and then proceed to the lesser--this would have been thought a rare piece of good fortune.

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[1] Plato; Benjamin Jowett (translation) (380BC), “Book II”, in The Republic:
Seeing then, I said, that we are no great wits, I think that we had better adopt a method which I may illustrate thus; suppose that a short-sighted person had been asked by some one to read small letters from a distance; and it occurred to some one else that they might be found in another place which was larger and in which the letters were larger-- if they were the same and he could read the larger letters first, and then proceed to the lesser--this would have been thought a rare piece of good fortune.