For example:
James snatched the papers out of the flustered Jenifer's hands.
You could say, "James snatched the papers out of the hands of Jenifer, who was flustered," but if the first sentence is acceptable, I think I would prefer it to the second.
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If he arrives a few minutes after the meeting starts, we can refer to him as "the late Michael Jones."– GEdgarCommented Feb 8, 2014 at 1:12
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That sort of seems acceptable because of the quotation marks. Could you say, "The late Michael Jones then entered the conference room with a wry smile on his face."– SaiCommented Feb 8, 2014 at 1:19
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You could, if you meant that Michael Jones is dead. "The late" + name is so commonly used to mean "deceased" that you should avoid using the same construction to mean someone who is not punctual.– nxxCommented Feb 8, 2014 at 13:43
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1 Answer
Such usage is fine but difficult to pull off gracefully, I think. But it's been done forever.
...said the big, bad wolf.
...Gounod's “Roméo et Juliette,” had a nice organic expansiveness to it and, together with the luminous Ms. Morley...
Most of this has been orchestrated by the nefarious Mr Hain. All of it, on examination, proves to be if not nefarious then certainly untruthful...
"Quite right," assented the amused Elizabeth. With a final glance at the faded picture, she closed the album...
answered Feb 8, 2014 at 2:12
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@Sai On a side note, using adjectives in this way is often considered old-fashioned - or outright "bad writing" - in fiction writing, and other devices (such as "show, don't tell") are generally preferred. See writers.stackexchange.com/questions/8082/… for more information.– nxxCommented Feb 8, 2014 at 13:51