All 3 Uses of
fluent
in
The Count of Monte Cristo
- I cannot hope to be very fluent, but I certainly should have no difficulty in explaining my wants and wishes; and that would be quite as much as I should ever require.†
Chpt 15-16 *
- Then, turning towards Albert,—"It is a pity you do not understand either ancient or modern Greek, both of which Haidee speaks so fluently; the poor child will be obliged to talk to you in Italian, which will give you but a very false idea of her powers of conversation."†
Chpt 77-78
- Mercedes was much changed within the last few days; not that even in her days of fortune she had ever dressed with the magnificent display which makes us no longer able to recognize a woman when she appears in a plain and simple attire; nor indeed, had she fallen into that state of depression where it is impossible to conceal the garb of misery; no, the change in Mercedes was that her eye no longer sparkled, her lips no longer smiled, and there was now a hesitation in uttering the words which formerly sprang so fluently from her ready wit.†
Chpt 105-106
Definitions:
-
(1)
(fluent) able to easily comprehend and express; or expressed smoothly -- especially in a foreign language
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely (seen in classic literature), fluent can mean smooth or flowing -- as in: "fluent as the flight of a swallow" or "the fluent lines on the yacht" or Shakespeare's "fluent as the sea".