unvintageable en · ADJ
Etymology
From un- + vintage + -able, an allusion to the Greek poet Homer's epithets for the sea.
Meanings
-
(poetic) Not fit to drink.
Will Hero’s Tower crumble under 15-inch guns? Will the sea be polyphloisbic and wine dark and unvintageable?
1915, Rupert Brooke, en route to the Bosporus, as quoted by William Manchester, The Last Lion, page 518I stood by the unvintageable sea Till the wet waves drenched face and hair with spray, […]
1881, Oscar Wilde, “[Rosa Mystica.] Vita Nuova.”, in Poems, London: David Bogue, […], →OCLC, page 52:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most unvintageable | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more unvintageable | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |