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over-refined

[oh-ver-ri-fahyn]

verb (used with object), -fined, -fin·ing.

to refine excessively, as with oversubtle distinctions.

Origin:
1705–15; over- + refine

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Over-refined is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

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"The distinction between the two types of art is a difference of density rather than of species. In the same number of bars of Beethoven and Sousa, there is, in Beethoven, more of the essence of music, giving a thicker, more intense effect likely to alienate the unfamiliar listener by "boring" him, just as the palate accustomed to that richer food is bored by the thinness of the popular tune. The feeling that this is not the only difference is due to the fact that as an art grows more and more complex and dense, the number of relations among simple elements increases until those relations look like extraordinarily refined experiences denied to the common herd. Yet there is no real barrier to be leaped over by an effort of genius between understanding a "vulgar" dance tune and a Beethoven symphony."

-Jacques Barzun

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