How To Use Insubstantial In A Sentence

  • Her illegitimate position has rendered her wraithlike and insubstantial, almost disembodied.
  • Readers may safely treat his latest intervention as being what it appears to be: hasty, heated, and insubstantial.
  • She seemed somehow insubstantial - a shadow of a woman.
  • Despite its rather insubstantial construction, the basket weighs thirty troy ounces and presages the simple elegance of the neoclassical style.
  • an insubstantial and unsatisfying meal
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  • As an outcome of meditative experience, whatever appearances may arise can be transformed through meditative insight into a realization of the nature of all things as insubstantial, uncompounded, and only existing interdependently.
  • He continues by breaking down UxD, examining how each element implied in the title illuminate his hypothesis - that the ephemeral and insubstantial Comments at Boxes and Arrows
  • And in any case, we could take the second meaning of the word ‘insubstantial’ into consideration and say that dreams are meaningless and far too nonsensical.
  • He looks too insubstantial to be a serious cricketer. Times, Sunday Times
  • But no matter how many more dot.coms go bust, nobody should infer from the fall-out that the engines of the new economy are passing, insubstantial fashions soon to fade.
  • Grandma and grandpa were there too, only in like a sort of ghostly insubstantial form.
  • Often illogical or insubstantial, they can be neutralized or eliminated with a minimal effort.
  • Surprisingly, this insubstantial comedy drama returns for a third season. Times, Sunday Times
  • Otherwise we get a philosophy that tends to become insubstantial and vaporous.
  • The basic unit of classical space is the room, and we should think of it not as a void but as an expansive, albeit insubstantial and invisible, mass.
  • What they almost all had in common was that they cost a lot of money, made you miserable and resulted in staggeringly insubstantial weight losses that were completely negated by your drinking a glass of water.
  • It was his fatuous, smirky tone and insubstantial jibes.
  • She becomes daily more insubstantial, her figure wraithlike.
  • A show that at first glance feels rather insubstantial turns out on consideration to be subtle and often intriguing in mood. Times, Sunday Times
  • In the distance was the insubstantial outline of a ship.
  • Motoko can make herself and others invisible, inaudible, insubstantial… you get the idea.
  • They are dominated by classified ads: missing person searches, compact disc replication, name-change announcements and other intimations of a world of phantom insubstantiality.
  • Her optimism, that lifebuoy of hope that kept her floating above the reality of the marriage, seemed insubstantial in the face of the force that was her husband. A Small Death in the Great Glen
  • He looks too insubstantial to be a serious cricketer. Times, Sunday Times
  • Because thoughts are insubstantial until we bring them into some kind of material reality with speech, writing, art, machines etc.
  • Early aircraft were insubstantial constructions of wood and glue.
  • Next to such realism, hope may seem insubstantial. Christianity Today
  • In another age, this happy flitting, governed only by that week's editorial whim, might have felt insubstantial or indisciplined. Times, Sunday Times
  • And so they didn't seem showy and insubstantial, they seemed like real thoughts that had a particular weight.
  • Contrariwise, juries may convict where the judicial decision-maker would find the evidence insubstantial.
  • Still, it's far from insubstantial, and at its gutsiest is a work of intelligence and audacity. Times, Sunday Times
  • Mars has an insubstantial atmosphere, consisting almost entirely of carbon dioxide.
  • Mars has an insubstantial atmosphere, consisting almost entirely of carbon dioxide.
  • The sleeves were made of a filmy, translucent red material, so insubstantial that it was almost not there.
  • Ellen yearned to make a riposte, to say that all this seeming prosperity was insubstantial as a fog, but Madame Angelique suddenly held her drawing aloft, declaring, But see, an illustration excellente! The Dressmaker
  • The figure, in its nakedness, has an almost ghostly, insubstantial quality, a pathetic vulnerability.
  • Any justification very likely can appear or be made to appear judgmental, discriminatory, unfairly harsh, insubstantial or even anachronistic.
  • Despite some stalwart work by those at the helm of the second and youth teams, the structures that support them are insubstantial, and the development of the game in the community is patchy at best.
  • We who lived in the suburbs of towns that were themselves anonymous and mediocre were exiles from the city's Real: insubstantial wraiths, resigned to our status as non-beings.
  • A show that at first glance feels rather insubstantial turns out on consideration to be subtle and often intriguing in mood. Times, Sunday Times
  • I had the swimmy sensation that she couldn't see me, that I was too insubstantial. MUSIC FOR BOYS
  • It used to be translated as “vanity of vanities,” a beautifully resonant phrase, but one that misrepresents somewhat the Hebrew word hebel, which does not mean “vanity” in our sense, but rather anything fleeting and insubstantial, hence also, sometimes, ungraspable. In the Valley of the Shadow
  • What has been written is vague and insubstantial.
  • And I†™ m arguing, finally, that that relationship is one of convergence; that in the strange new world of immateriality toward which the engines of production have long been driving us, we can now at last make out the contours of a more familiar realm of the insubstantial†the realm of games and make-believe. Inkblurt · Dibbell on the game-reality shift
  • Their shapes were not clearly distinguishable, as they were covered by some kind of insubstantial black flame.
  • So if you think this is a site you're likely to read often and get something out of, we're asking if you can chip in some funds for the not insubstantial costs of launching the new site and getting it on its feet.
  • At times, the book is about as convincing as a fairytale, proffering only light and insubstantial imaginings.
  • Even the music, which, whilst variable in quality, has some genuinely affecting moments, ultimately seems insubstantial.
  • vinyl siding has become the standard-bearer for cheap, insubstantial construction
  • The figure, in its nakedness, has an almost ghostly, insubstantial quality, a pathetic vulnerability.
  • Mill proposed the insubstantiality of the dreamlike future and also that our feeling for the past may be based upon a cosmic joke, a delusion of the dreaming senses.
  • The commercial broadcaster was deluged with complaints and fans bombarded internet messageboards, many of them criticising presenter Adrian Chiles for his "insubstantial" apology. Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph
  • Thus he dismissed as insubstantial any pretence to an absolute form of knowledge, which seeks to soar above the resistant medium of experience.
  • an insubstantial mirage on the horizon
  • Literature concerning photography by Africans remains scattershot and largely insubstantial.
  • She had never seemed so insubstantial, so illusory.
  • In the distance was the insubstantial outline of a ship.
  • The wall was alight, or rather something behind it burned with a cold luminescence that made the solid brick seem insubstantial stuff. THE HELLBOUND HEART
  • We who lived in the suburbs of towns that were themselves anonymous and mediocre were exiles from the city's Real: insubstantial wraiths, resigned to our status as non-beings.
  • The glass is held in the thinnest of metal frames, the lightness and insubstantiality of these vitrines contrasting with the mass of the original structure and the blind, blank walls of the new insertions.
  • That just won't work, particularly when the Democrats aren't very good at battling the Republicans in close combat and the Republicans can make those who stay above the fray seem lightweight and insubstantial, which is what they've managed to do. John Amato: Obama to Speak Monday Night on Stimulus While Rep. Pete Sessions Says Republicans Are the New Taliban
  • Its protagonist remains nameless and undescribed, his character development apparently insubstantial. The Times Literary Supplement
  • Before this time, uranium mining was insubstantial; the only reason it was mined was to obtain radium for cancer treatment and fluorescent dials.
  • Mars has an insubstantial atmosphere, consisting almost entirely of carbon dioxide.
  • Next to such realism, hope may seem insubstantial. Christianity Today
  • Another insubstantial yet deeply rooted paean to Isabel's status as an" intermeddler "whose reasoning begins where other literary sleuths 'ends. The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander Mccall Smith: Book summary
  • But each of these problems seems insubstantial when weighed against the massive benefits of gardening leave. Times, Sunday Times
  • Relative to the musical company into which he's been thrust, his vocal melodies are insubstantial and lyrics pretty but vague.
  • She seemed somehow insubstantial - a shadow of a woman.
  • Surprisingly, this insubstantial comedy drama returns for a third season. Times, Sunday Times
  • This vagueness and insubstantiality is bound up with the director's artistic-intellectual outlook and methods.
  • Mr Counsellor Fielding follows his retrospect of this strenuous attack on the law with a declaration that, henceforth, he intends to forsake the pursuit of that 'foolscap' literary fame, and the company of the 'infamous' nine Muses; a decision based partly on the insubstantial nature of the rewards achieved, and partly it would seem due to the fact that at Fielding's innocent door had been laid, he declares, half the anonymous scurrility, indecency, treason, and blasphemy that the few last years had produced. Henry Fielding A Memoir
  • However, the article views the dispute as insubstantial.
  • She seemed somehow insubstantial - a shadow of a woman.
  • As one pack of financial cards falls after another, US capitalism will experience a cleansing of the most exposed and insubstantial parts of the financialised economy.
  • Both start with an idea, something insubstantial, that is transformed into an artifact that can influence the world and other people. Archive 2010-01-01
  • But each of these problems seems insubstantial when weighed against the massive benefits of gardening leave. Times, Sunday Times
  • Despite this, overall rates of survival among older patients with extradural haematoma or subdural haematoma were not insubstantial.
  • Thus he dismissed as insubstantial any pretence to an absolute form of knowledge, which seeks to soar above the resistant medium of experience.
  • Whether you think it's lovely but insubstantial, or lovely and great, will depend in large part on what you expect from greatness.
  • Cameron's documentary Aliens of the Deep was visually FANTASTIC if kind of insubstantial as a documentary, and yes, it was absolutely improved by 3D. Even Roger Ebert Doesn't Like 3D - Take That Hollywood! « FirstShowing.net
  • Scare story: if spirits weren't so frustratingly insubstantial, Ham House could sell 'em by the pound.
  • Despite the insubstantial nature of the wraith, it appeared opaque enough, and stood in the center of the study's hardwood floor with its wings fully outstretched.
  • Is it possible that the fashion industry, long patronized as a realm of the ephemeral and insubstantial, is the real bellwether for future ideas of “ownership” of creative content? Smart Mobs » Blog Archive » Music, fashion, film — different approaches to ownership/control of creativity
  • What we really get is a light, frothy, insubstantial comedy that feels more like Meet the Parents, and a really nice DVD package.
  • The goal for Honda should be to reclaim a place on Consumer Reports' "recommended" list - CR called the new Civic "cheap" and "insubstantial" - and to answer critics who have called the car a "betrayal," as Dan Neil did in The Wall Street Journal. The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed
  • Across it, turrets of the small white mosque seemed as insubstantial as the wobbling outlines of a heat mirage.
  • The gliding motion of the sails, their white flimsiness and quick transformations gave whatever formations they shaped and the places they represented a distinct air of insubstantiality and evanescence.
  • Moreover fictional ghosts take many forms, from the recognizably human to the fearfully alien: insubstantial wraiths, or corporeal creatures with the ability to inflict gross physical harm.
  • The figure, in its nakedness, has an almost ghostly, insubstantial quality, a pathetic vulnerability.
  • Both left and right pilloried her accent, made fun of her ignorance and, from the national media through to the national parliament, did everything in their not insubstantial power to make her a laughing stock.
  • At times, the flourish over the city of towers and spires, domes, cupolas and pinnacles has an insubstantial visionary quality, seeming detached from the sturdy fabric beneath.
  • More than that and it looks daunting; less than three and it looks insubstantial. Times, Sunday Times
  • In the case of these great masters, the occurrences described are an expression of their realization of the insubstantial and uncompounded nature of all things.
  • The gliding motion of the sails, their white flimsiness and quick transformations gave whatever formations they shaped and the places they represented a distinct air of insubstantiality and evanescence.
  • Yet when, outraged at such affront, we stand on our rights and demand redress, we would do well to remember how insubstantial the dignity is on which those rights are based.
  • The stairs were alarmingly insubstantial, swaying with each step of our slow ascent, the old boards crying tremulant squeaks and protesting groans. The Curse of the Wendigo
  • The meanings and inferences associated with the subject (omnipotence = physical power) of a counterintuitive expression contradict those associated with the predicate (insubstantial = lack of physical substance), as in the expressions “the bachelor is married” or “the deceased is alive.” Archive 2005-01-01
  • It's feared a wooden fence separating the two properties was insubstantial, and people standing on the balconies of their new homes would be able to look down on gardens surrounding the Lodge.
  • Mostly, though, this stuff is short, enigmatic, insubstantial and exciting.
  • It makes the entrancingly insubstantial sound stolid and dull. Times, Sunday Times
  • Only when we at last recognize the insubstantiality of all such states, can we utilize them all freely.
  • Phlegm is said to be either substantial or insubstantial, meaning that it can either be the mucous we expectorate and drool or a kind of ‘fog’ that blocks the sensory, organs.
  • What strangers we meet are wraith-like, insubstantial, as if at a quarter-turn from our reality.
  • The crumbs of my melting biccy suddenly felt horribly insubstantial. Times, Sunday Times
  • She becomes daily more insubstantial, her figure wraithlike.
  • In spite of the insubstantiality of the materials that Feher uses, his work reveals an underlying muscularity; it's getting pumped up and starting to shoulder itself around.
  • It would seem to be towards the edge of the power, if at all, and if it were within it, the particular thing might be regarded as insubstantial, tenuous or distant.
  • Like Gertrude, whose behaviour provides too insubstantial a cause for Hamlet's disgust, Cherie's impecunious mother makes an inadequate pretext for her affluent daughter's lifelong miserliness and greed.
  • These pithy moments come too seldom to rescue the narrative from its own insubstantiality, though.
  • as insubstantial as a dream
  • It amused me to see the insubstantial evidence you had pieced together as your argument against airguns.
  • The double-skinned glass curtain wall reflects the trees and changing light to become a subtly mutable (and deceptively insubstantial) external membrane.
  • I'm knackered and have to get some kip, but let me take you up on one (relatively insubstantial) point - the landscape could be improved immeasurably by ridding it of farmers, unless de-forestation, polluted rivers, shoddy-looking barns made out of breeze-blocks and rusty corrugated iron, and otherwise pleasant country roads covered in years-worth of crusted cow cack are your thing...
  • At times, the flourish over the city of towers and spires, domes, cupolas and pinnacles has an insubstantial visionary quality, seeming detached from the sturdy fabric beneath.
  • More than that and it looks daunting; less than three and it looks insubstantial. Times, Sunday Times
  • And I don't even know why someone would use 'insubstantial' in this context. Counterintuition

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