Variegated writer
- Thread starter susanna76
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It doesn't work for me. It sounds like the writer is multicoloured.
'Variegated' doesn't have a sense of "tackling a varied array of subjects."
'Variegated' doesn't have a sense of "tackling a varied array of subjects."
Yes, variegated does primarily mean multicolored, but it can also mean "varied; diversified; diverse." And I've seen "variegated writer" on Google from some authoritative figures. But I can understand if the phrase makes it sound like the writer is some kind of animal 
I agree with heypresto; "variegated" would sound very strange in that context.
OK, I concede it does appear to exist 'out there', but I've not come across it before, and I wouldn't happily use it myself.
I think 'variegated' should stay where it belongs - describing these sort of leaves:
I think 'variegated' should stay where it belongs - describing these sort of leaves:
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Doing a quick Google myself the instances of "variegated writer" seem to be mostly from several generations back, not recent. It sounds odd to me too.
"Variegated writer" does not occur often enough in books to show up in ngrams. "Multifaceted writer" does. I wonder if that would work for you.
I'd advise against it, too. The Google books database doesn't have any instances. The top ten nouns after variegated are #1 "leaves" "surface" , "body" , "colour ... #10 "treatise".
Would also "eclectic writer" work in his context? I can't really say whether there is a difference in meaning between eclectic and multifaced.
Possibly. But you mean "multifaceted," not "multifaced."