1 A formidable warrior, his thin and severe features retained the soldier's fierceness of expression; an ascetic bigot, they were no less marked by the emaciation of abstinence, and the spiritual pride of the self-satisfied devotee.
2 The Premier's thin, blue-veined hands were clasped tightly over the ivory head of his umbrella, and his gaunt, ascetic face looked gloomily from Holmes to me.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan DoyleContext Highlight In XIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND STAIN 3 So, given the nineteenth century, we are opposed, as a general proposition, and among all peoples, in Asia as well as in Europe, in India as well as in Turkey, to ascetic claustration.
Les Misérables 2 By Victor HugoContext Highlight In BOOK 7: CHAPTER III—ON WHAT CONDITIONS ONE CAN RESPECT THE PAST 4 In this respect, the ascetic and the sage converge.
Les Misérables 2 By Victor HugoContext Highlight In BOOK 7: CHAPTER VIII—FAITH, LAW 5 Hester sought not to acquire anything beyond a subsistence, of the plainest and most ascetic description, for herself, and a simple abundance for her child.
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel HawthorneContext Highlight In V. HESTER AT HER NEEDLE 6 He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol.