such

such
such
1. such as an emphasizer.

• How can the House express its indignant rejection of football hooliganism while setting such a persuasive example of undignified and daily indiscipline? —Guardian Weekly, 1986.

The construction with such a followed by an adjective is established and idiomatic in current English, despite occasional objections that so and not such should do the work of emphasizing here (…while setting so persuasive an example). Compare the use of such qualifying a noun, to which nobody objects:

• I can't believe I have made such an idiot of myself —weblog, BrE 2004.

In some cases such appears to qualify the combination of adjective and noun:

• He warns that now is not such a good time to be getting rid of pubs —Sunday Herald, 2001.

2. such as with following pronoun.
When an inflecting pronoun follows, it is more natural to regard such as as a preposition and to follow it with me, her, him, etc., rather than I, she, he, etc. (regarding such as as a conjunction with the continuation understood as such as I am, etc.)

• They were not bad, for such as her —Rose Macaulay, 1920.

3. such as or like.
Like is common when a single instance follows (a poet like Tennyson / take a girl like you), but such as is preferable (and more idiomatic) when a list follows (Members of the cat family, such as the lion, the tiger, and the leopard). See like 2.
4. such…as…or such…that….
We are such stuff as dreams are made on. The relative pronoun that follows such in sentences of this type is as and not who, which, or that. But such followed by that is legitimate in constructions of the following types, in which that is a conjunction:

• Midge was such a dingbat…that she went to Hawaii for a vacation during World War II —J. Irving, 1978

• The scale of the influx of cheap drugs on to the market was such that a line of cocaine now costs less than a cappuccino —Scotland on Sunday, 2005.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Such — Such, a. [OE. such, sich, sech, sik, swich, swilch, swulch, swilc, swulc, AS. swelc, swilc, swylc; akin to OFries. selik, D. zulk, OS. sulic, OHG. sulih, solih, G. solch, Icel. sl[=i]kr, OSw. salik, Sw. slik, Dan. slig, Goth. swaleiks; originally …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • such as it is — Just as it appears or is presented, not being any better or worse than most others of its kind; being average or mediocre. * /This pie, such as it is, is the best I can make./ * /Jane told her grandmother her grades, such as they were./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • such as it is — Just as it appears or is presented, not being any better or worse than most others of its kind; being average or mediocre. * /This pie, such as it is, is the best I can make./ * /Jane told her grandmother her grades, such as they were./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • such — I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Old English swilc; akin to Old High German sulīh such, Old English swā so, gelīk like more at so, like Date: before 12th century 1. a. of a kind or character to be indicated or suggested < a bag such… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • such as — {conj.} 1. Of a kind or amount shown or named; of a kind like. * /The explorer took only such men and things as he really needed into the jungle with him./ * /They felt such heat in the jungle as they had never felt before./ * /Many different… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • such as — {conj.} 1. Of a kind or amount shown or named; of a kind like. * /The explorer took only such men and things as he really needed into the jungle with him./ * /They felt such heat in the jungle as they had never felt before./ * /Many different… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Such and such — Such Such, a. [OE. such, sich, sech, sik, swich, swilch, swulch, swilc, swulc, AS. swelc, swilc, swylc; akin to OFries. selik, D. zulk, OS. sulic, OHG. sulih, solih, G. solch, Icel. sl[=i]kr, OSw. salik, Sw. slik, Dan. slig, Goth. swaleiks;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Such character — Such Such, a. [OE. such, sich, sech, sik, swich, swilch, swulch, swilc, swulc, AS. swelc, swilc, swylc; akin to OFries. selik, D. zulk, OS. sulic, OHG. sulih, solih, G. solch, Icel. sl[=i]kr, OSw. salik, Sw. slik, Dan. slig, Goth. swaleiks;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Such like — Such Such, a. [OE. such, sich, sech, sik, swich, swilch, swulch, swilc, swulc, AS. swelc, swilc, swylc; akin to OFries. selik, D. zulk, OS. sulic, OHG. sulih, solih, G. solch, Icel. sl[=i]kr, OSw. salik, Sw. slik, Dan. slig, Goth. swaleiks;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Such or such — Such Such, a. [OE. such, sich, sech, sik, swich, swilch, swulch, swilc, swulc, AS. swelc, swilc, swylc; akin to OFries. selik, D. zulk, OS. sulic, OHG. sulih, solih, G. solch, Icel. sl[=i]kr, OSw. salik, Sw. slik, Dan. slig, Goth. swaleiks;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Such, Such Were the Joys — is a long autobiographical essay by English writer George Orwell, written in the 1940 s, but not published until 1952, after the author s death. It tells a story based on Orwell s experiences, between the ages of eight and thirteen in the years… …   Wikipedia

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