Verbal Advantage - Level 09 » Index

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  • Word 1: Prolix
    Word 1: Prolix [PROH-liks]
    Wordy and tiresome, long-winded and boring, verbose, using far too many and a great deal more words than are necessary and essential to get the point, such as the point may be, across, despite the fact that…
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    All right, already! Now that was a prolix definition if you ever saw one—not to mention redundant.
    Challenging synonyms of prolix include circumlocutory (SURkum-LAHK-yuh-tor-ee), tautological (TAW-tuh-LAHJ-i-kul), and pleonastic (PLEE-uh-NAS-tik).
    Antonyms of prolix include concise, terse, pithy, succinct (suhkSINGKT, not suh-SINGKT), and sententious (sen-TEN-shus).
    Prolix comes from the Latin prolixus, widely extended. Prolix applies to longwinded speech or writing that is tediously discursive, desultory, or protracted. If someone in a meeting talks on and on in a monotonous, boring way, that person is being prolix.
  • Word 2: Apocryphal
    Word 2: Apocryphal [uh-PAHK-ri-ful]
    Not genuine, counterfeit, illegitimate; specifically, of doubtful authenticity or authorship.
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    Spurious (SPYUUR-ee-us, word 18 of Level 8) is a close synonym of apocryphal. Other synonyms include unauthorized, unauthenticated, fabricated, fraudulent, and supposititious (suhPAHZ-i-TISH-us).
    Antonyms include genuine (JEN-yoo-in), authentic, valid, and bona fide (BOH-nuh FYD).
    The Apocrypha (uh-PAHK-ri-fuh) are fourteen books of an early translation of the Old Testament into Greek called the Septuagint (SEP-t(y)oo-uh-jint). The authenticity of these books was called into question, and they were subsequently rejected by Judaism and considered uncanonical, or not authoritative, by Protestants. However, eleven of the fourteen Apocrypha are accepted by the Roman Catholic Church. Today, apocrypha (with a lowercase a) refers to any writings of doubtful authenticity or authorship, and the adjective apocryphal means not genuine, counterfeit, spurious: an apocryphal document, an apocryphal statement, or an apocryphal story.
  • Word 3: Cupidity
    Word 3: Cupidity [kyoo-PID-i-tee]
    Greed, a strong desire for wealth or material things.
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    Synonyms of cupidity include avarice, acquisitiveness, covetousness, and venality (vee-NAL-i-tee).
    Cupidity comes from the Latin cupidus, which meant desirous, longing, eager, and also eager for power or money, avaricious. The corresponding Latin noun cupido, which means “desire,” is the source of Cupid, the cherubic (che-ROO-bik) god of love in Roman mythology, usually represented as a baby or chubby young boy with wings and a bow and arrow. Although Cupid and the English noun cupidity are related etymologically, in modern usage cupidity does not denote love or desire but rather an excessive love of money, a strong desire for wealth or material things.
  • Word 4: Vernal
    Word 4: Vernal [VUR-nul, rhymes with journal]
    Pertaining to spring, occurring in the spring; also, having the qualities of spring: fresh, warm, and mild.
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    Vernal has two challenging antonyms: hibernal (hy-BUR-nul) and hiemal (HY-uh-mul). Hibernal and hiemal both mean pertaining to winter, wintry. The ancient Romans gave Ireland the name Hibernia because the Emerald Isle seemed so cold and wintry to them. The familiar verb to hibernate means to spend the winter either in a dormant state, after the manner of bears, or in a place with a milder climate.
    Would you like some words for your next summer vacation? Estival (rhymes with festival) means pertaining to summer, like summer, or belonging to summer, as estival flowers or an estival holiday. The verb to estivate (ES-ti-vayt), which means to pass the summer, is the opposite of hibernate, to pass the winter. And moving right along through the year, we have autumnal (awTUHM-nul), which means pertaining to autumn, to the fall.
    Our keyword, vernal, means pertaining to spring. The vernal equinox (EE-kwi-nahks), which occurs in March and marks the beginning of spring, and the autumnal equinox, which occurs in September and marks the beginning of fall, are the times during the year when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are approximately the same length.
  • Word 5: Temerity
    Word 5: Temerity [tuh-MER-i-tee]
    Recklessness, rashness, foolhardiness; reckless disregard for danger, risk, or consequences.
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    Synonyms of temerity include nerve, cheek, gall, audacity, heedlessness, imprudence, impetuosity, presumptuousness, and effrontery (i-FRUHN- tur-ee).
    Antonyms include timidity, bashfulness, faint-heartedness, sheepishness, apprehension, diffidence (DIF-i-dints), and timorousness (TIM-ur-us-nis).
    The corresponding adjective is temerarious (TEM-uh-RAIR-eeus). When George Washington led his troops across the Delaware River, at the time it must have seemed temerarious, but history has since proved it was a sagacious military maneuver.
    Temerity comes from the Latin temere, rashly, blindly, heedlessly, and by derivation refers to rash or foolish boldness, a reckless bravado that underestimates the danger or consequences of an action. Do you remember the end of the movie The Graduate, when Dustin Hoffman runs into the church, bangs on the glass, stops the wedding in progress, and then jumps on a bus with Katherine Ross, the intended bride? That was an act of temerity.
  • Word 6: Rapprochement
    Word 6: Rapprochement [RA-prohsh-MAW(N)]
    Reconciliation, a reestablishing of friendly relations: “She helped bring about a rapprochement between the hostile parties”; “In 1993, there was a historic rapprochement between Israel and the PLO, and in 1994, an equally significant rapprochement between Israel and Jordan.”
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    Rapprochement comes from a French verb meaning to bring together, and means literally to approach again. The word has been used in English since the early nineteenth century, but it still retains its French flavor in pronunciation: ra- as in rap; -proche- with an sh sound as in potion; and -ment like maw with -aw stopped in the nose: RA-prohsh-MAW(N).
  • Word 7: Disquisition
    Word 7: Disquisition [DIS-kw-ZISH-n]
    A formal discussion of or inquiry into a subject; a discourse.
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    General synonyms of disquisition include treatise, critique, and commentary. More specific synonyms include lecture, thesis, oration, homily (HAHM-i-lee), tract, monograph, and dissertation.
    Discourse, dissertation, and disquisition all refer to formal discussions of or inquiries into a subject. Discourse, which may refer either to writing or speech, means a formal treatise, lecture, or conversation. Dissertation may mean any lengthy discourse in writing, such as Noah Webster’s Dissertations on the English Language, published in 1789; however, in current usage dissertation most often refers to a formal thesis written by a candidate for a doctoral degree. Disquisition applies to any formal treatment of a subject, usually but not necessarily in writing.
  • Word 8: Proscribe
    Word 8: Proscribe [proh-SKRYB]
    To prohibit, forbid, outlaw: “The city council passed an ordinance proscribing the sale or possession of handguns”; “In certain societies, the practice of bigamy is not proscribed.”
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    Synonyms of proscribe include ban, denounce, disallow, condemn, censure, ostracize, expatriate (eks-PAY-tree-ayt), and interdict (IN-tur-DIKT). Antonyms include permit, tolerate, legalize, authorize, and sanction.
    Proscribe comes from the Latin proscribere, to post or publish the name of an outlaw or a person to be banished or put to death. By derivation, that which is proscribed is outlawed, not permitted, denounced, or condemned.
    Be careful to distinguish the verbs to proscribe and to prescribe, which are opposite in meaning. Proscribe begins with pro- and is pronounced proh-SKRYB. Prescribe begins with pre- and is pronounced pri-SKRYB. A doctor may prescribe a certain drug, advise you to take it, or proscribe saturated fats, advise you to eliminate them from your diet. A prescription is an order to do something. A proscription is an order not to do it, a prohibition.
  • Word 9: Munificence
    Word 9: Munificence [myoo-NIF-i-sints]
    Great generosity, lavish giving.
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    Synonyms of munificence include philanthropy, liberality, benevolence, bountifulness, bounteousness, beneficence (buh-NEF-isints), and largess, traditionally pronounced LAHR-jis but now more often pronounced lahr-JES. Either way, the g in largess should be said like the g in large. Do not soften or Frenchify the g and say lahr-ZHES; this particular affectation is regrettably popular today. The word is sometimes spelled largesse, after the French, but the preferred spelling is largess, without a final e.
    Antonyms of munificence include stinginess, miserliness, closefistedness (KLOHS- as in close, near), penuriousness (puh-NYUURee-us-nis), and parsimony (PAHR-si-MOH-nee). We will discuss the noun parsimony and the adjective parsimonious (PAHR-si-MOH-neeus) in the next set of keywords in this level.
    The noun munificence and the corresponding adjective munificent (myoo-NIF-i-sint) come through the Latin munificus, generous, liberal, bountiful, from munus, a gift, present, or favor. Munificent means characterized by great generosity, as a munificent donation. The noun munificence suggests liberal or lavish giving, and may refer to the generous giving of money, favors, or hospitality.
  • Word 10: Probity
    Word 10: Probity [PROH-bi-tee]
    Honesty, integrity; fairness, straightforwardness, and sincerity in one’s dealings with others.
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    Synonyms of probity include uprightness, trustworthiness, scrupulousness, veracity (vuh-RAS-i-tee), and rectitude (REK-tit(y)ood).
    Antonyms include improbity, the direct opposite of probity, and also dishonesty, deceitfulness, unscrupulousness, duplicity, malfeasance (mal-FEE-zints), and perfidy (PUR-fi-dee). Perfidy means a breach of faith, treachery.
    Honesty implies truthfulness and an unwillingness to lie, deceive, or do wrong. Integrity implies trustworthiness, reliability, and moral responsibility. Probity implies unshakable honesty and integrity; the man or woman of probity has been put to the test and found to be incorruptibly honest and upright, through adherence to the highest principles of conduct.
  • Word 11: Puissant
    Word 11: Puissant [PYOO-i-sint or pyoo-IS-int]
    Powerful, mighty, strong, forceful.
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    Synonyms of puissant include vigorous, potent, dynamic, and stalwart (STAWL-wurt). Antonyms include weak, feeble, infirm, debilitated, enervated, flaccid (FLAK-sid, not FLAS-id), and valetudinarian (VAL-i-T(Y)OO-di-NAIR- ee-in).
    In the seventeenth-century play The Alchemist, Ben Jonson writes: “I will be puissant, and mighty in my talk to her.”
    Puissant comes through Middle English from an Old French word meaning powerful. Because it is used chiefly in old poetry and scholarly disquisitions, current dictionaries sometimes label puissant poetic, literary, or archaic. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should avoid using it. Puissant is a lovely word that if used in the right place at the right time can add flair and a dash of style to your expression. The corresponding noun is puissance (PYOO-isints or pyoo-IS-ints), power, strength, might.
    There is also authority for the pronunciation PWIS-int for puissant and PWIS-ints for puissance. But to my ear, these twosyllable variants sound pwissy and are best avoided. You are better off with one of the three-syllable pronunciations sanctioned above, which most modern authorities favor.
  • Word 12: Peculate
    Word 12: Peculate [PEK-yuh-layt]
    To steal, embezzle; specifically, to steal or misuse money or property entrusted to one’s care.
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    To peculate and to defalcate (de-FAL-kayt) both mean to embezzle, to steal from or appropriate that which has been entrusted to one’s care.
    Defalcate by derivation means to cut off with a sickle; hence, to misappropriate funds by fraudulently deducting a portion of them for one’s own use.
    Although peculate comes from the Latin peculium, which means “private property,” in current usage the word usually refers to the embezzlement of public or corporate funds, or property entrusted to one’s care: “For twenty-five years old Barney balanced the books for the city, and just when he was about to retire with a good pension they caught him peculating from the public trough.”
    The corresponding noun is peculation (PEK-yuh-LAY-shin), the act of peculating.
  • Word 13: Diffident
    Word 13: Diffident [DIF-i-dint]
    Shy, timid, bashful, lacking in self-confidence, hesitant to speak or act.
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    Diffident comes from the Latin dis-, which in this case means “not,” and fidere, to trust, put confidence in. Diffident was once used literally to mean distrustful, but that sense is archaic, and diffident now suggests lacking trust or confidence in oneself to speak or act. Diffident people have difficulty asserting themselves or expressing their opinions.
  • Word 14: Venal
    Word 14: Venal [VEE-nul]
    Corruptible, bribable, capable of being bribed or bought off, able to be obtained for a price.
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    Venal and mercenary (word 14 of Level 2) are close in meaning.
    Mercenary means done for payment only, motivated by greed or a desire for personal gain: “A mercenary writer writes not for love but for the money”; “When Jim discovered that Alice had three exhusbands who were all affluent plastic surgeons like him, he concluded that her interest in him was mercenary and called off their engagement.”
    Venal comes from the Latin venalis, for sale, and means literally able to be sold. The word is used today to mean able to be bribed, corrupted, or bought off, or characterized by corrupt, mercenary dealings. A venal judge is corrupt, capable of being bribed; a venal politician is corruptible, able to be influenced by money or favors; a venal administration or a venal business deal is riddled with corruption and bribery.
    The corresponding noun is venality (vee-NAL-i-tee), a venal state or act.
    Venal and venial are often confused. Venial (VEE-nee-ul, three syllables) comes from the Latin venia, grace, indulgence, and means excusable, forgivable, minor, as a venial sin, a venial offense, or a venial error. Venal (VEE-nul, two syllables) means corruptible, capable of being bribed or bought off.
  • Word 15: Parsimonious
    Word 15: Parsimonious [PAHR-si-MOH-nee-us]
    Stingy, miserly, extremely tight with money.
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    Antonyms of parsimonious include generous, liberal, open-handed, bountiful, beneficent (buh-NEF-i-sint), magnanimous (mag-NAN-imus, word 24 of Level 7), and munificent (discussed in word 9 of this level).
    Synonyms of parsimonious include grasping, money-grubbing, penny-pinching, close-fisted (KLOHS- as in close, near), penurious (puh-NYUUR-ee-us), and niggardly (NIG-urd-lee).
    Please note that niggard (NIG-urd) and niggardly are very old words of Scandinavian origin; other than an unfortunate resemblance in sound, they have nothing whatsoever to do with the offensive and derogatory term used by racists to insult African-Americans. A niggard is a miser; niggardly means stingy, begrudging every nickel and dime.
    The noun parsimony (PAHR-si-MOH-nee) means excessive or unnecessary economy or frugality. The adjective parsimonious means very sparing in expenditure, frugal to excess. The eighteenth-century English essayist Joseph Addison wrote, “Extraordinary funds for one campaign may spare us the expense of many years, whereas a long parsimonious war will drain us of more men and money.”
    If you’ve ever known someone who wanted you to do a demanding job and grudgingly offered to pay you half of what it was worth, and not a penny more, then you know well what parsimonious means.
  • Word 16: Pusillanimous
    Word 16: Pusillanimous [PYOO-si-LAN-i-mus]
    Cowardly, lacking courage, timid, fainthearted, irresolute.
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    Pusillanimous is used of cowardly persons or actions that are especially ignoble or contemptible: a pusillanimous deserter of a cause; a pusillanimous surrender; a mean-spirited and pusillanimous leader. The corresponding noun is pusillanimity (PYOO-suh-luh-NIM-i-tee).
  • Word 17: Extant
    Word 17: Extant [EKS-tint, rhymes with sextant, ant as in relevant]
    Existing, still in existence, not extinct, not lost or destroyed.
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    Extant comes from the Latin exstare, to stand out, which comes in turn from ex-, meaning “out,” and stare, to stand. Extant originally meant standing out, but this sense is now archaic, and in modern usage extant means standing out through time, still in existence, not lost or destroyed: “That law is no longer extant; it’s not on the books”; “She was surprised and pleased to find several extant relatives in the village where she was born”; “The only extant writings by this early Greek philosopher may in fact be apocryphal”; “Although Shakespeare’s plays have been performed and enjoyed for more than four hundred years, nothing in his handwriting has survived—not one extant manuscript.”
  • Word 18: Meretricious
    Word 18: Meretricious [MER-uh-TRISH-us]
    Tawdry, gaudy; attractive in a flashy or cheap way; falsely alluring; deceptively enticing.
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    By derivation, meretricious means pertaining to or like a meretrix (MER-uh-triks), a prostitute. This unusual meretrix comes directly from Latin and has been in the language for nearly five hundred years, but it is so rare today that you won’t find it listed in most dictionaries.
    Meretricious is still sometimes used in its literal sense, but most often the word refers to someone or something that has the gaudy appearance or tawdry qualities of a prostitute, especially in a false or deceptive way.
    Meretricious eyes are falsely alluring; a meretricious idea is deceptively attractive; a meretricious style is cheap, flashy, and insincere.
    Meretricious and meritorious (MER-uh-TOR-ee-us) are often confused, but they are nearly opposite in meaning. Meritorious means worthy of merit, deserving praise; a meritorious action is a commendable action. Meretricious actions are falsely alluring, superficially attractive, flashy but insincere.
  • Word 19: Xenophobia
    Word 19: Xenophobia [ZEN-uh-FOH-bee-uh]
    Fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners, or of anything strange or foreign: “Their xenophobia and temerity led them headlong into war.”
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    Xenophobia entered English at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its antonym, xenomania (ZEN-uh-MAY-nee-uh), an inordinate attachment to anything or anyone foreign, was coined thirty years earlier but is rarely used today. However, xenophilia (ZEN-uh-FIL-ee-uh), which came into the language in the 1950s, is still in good standing; xenophilia means love for or attraction to foreigners, foreign cultures, or foreign customs.
    Xenophobia combines the prefix xeno-, which means alien, strange, with the suffix -phobia, which means fear. By derivation, xenophobia is fear of anyone or anything alien or strange. A xenophobe is a person who fears or hates strangers: “An exclusive community filled with vigilant xenophobes who fear any unfamiliar face.” The adjective xenophobic means affected with xenophobia: “During times of national crisis, people have a tendency to become hostile and xenophobic.”
    Many educated speakers—and for some reason, especially the highly educated ones—pronounce xenophobia, xenophobe, and xenophobic with a long e: ZEE-nophobia, ZEE-nophobe, and ZEE-nophobic. These pronunciations were not recognized by dictionaries until the 1980s, and although all current dictionaries now list them, not one lists them first.
    So take my advice and ignore those overeducated, innovative mispronouncers, who are probably foreign spies. Take a Zen approach and pronounce these words with a short e. Say ZEN-ophobia, ZEN-ophobe, and ZEN-ophobic.
  • Word 20: Quotidian
    Word 20: Quotidian [kwoh-TID-ee-in]
    Daily, recurring every day or pertaining to every day, as a quotidian ritual; a quotidian record of events; a quotidian update or report; the quotidian call to order.
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    Quotidian, daily, and diurnal (dy-UR-nul, from the Latin diurnus, of the day, word 49 of Level 2) are synonyms.
    Quotidian comes from the Latin quotidianus, daily, of every day. Because something that recurs daily soon becomes routine and ordinary, quotidian has also come to mean of an everyday nature, and therefore ordinary, commonplace, trivial: “The first presentation was eloquent, but the second was dull and quotidian.” “As he walked he heard the quotidian clamor of the marketplace, where money is forever changing hands.”
  • Word 21: Exigency
    Word 21: Exigency [EK-si-jen-see]
    An urgency, pressing need; a situation demanding immediate attention or action.
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    Exigency comes from the Latin exigere, to demand, force or drive out, and by derivation means something one is demanded, forced, or driven to do. In current usage we speak of an unforeseen exigency; a financial exigency; front-page newspaper stories focusing on the exigencies of the moment. The corresponding adjective is exigent (EK-si-jint), urgent, pressing, demanding immediate attention or action.
    According to the Century Dictionary (1914), an exigency is a situation of sudden urgency, in which something needs to be done at once. An emergency is more pressing and therefore less common than an exigency. For example, every day the federal government deals with exigencies in foreign affairs, but only occasionally must it respond to a national emergency. A crisis is an emergency on which the outcome of everything depends, as a midlife crisis, or an economic crisis.
  • Word 22: Pulchritude
    Word 22: Pulchritude [PUHL-kri-T(Y)OOD]
    Beauty, loveliness, attractiveness.
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    Pulchritude comes directly from the Latin word for beautiful. In his famous and influential dictionary, published in 1755, Samuel Johnson defined pulchritude as the “quality opposite to deformity.”
    Pulchritude is a literary word that is usually applied to persons or things that have great physical beauty or external appeal: a woman of pulchritude; the pulchritude of nature. Occasionally it is used of something whose beauty manifests itself in a more subtle way, as the pulchritude of the soul. What seems meretricious to you may possess pulchritude for another, for as the saying (sort of) goes, “Pulchritude is in the eye of the beholder.”
    The corresponding adjective is pulchritudinous (PUHL-kri-T(Y)OOD-’n-us), physically beautiful or lovely.
  • Word 23: Denouement
    Word 23: Denouement [DAY-noo-MAW(N)— nasalized n, silent t]
    The unraveling or resolution of a plot, as of a novel or a drama; the outcome or resolution of any complex situation.
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    As you can tell from its vowel-laden spelling and nasalized final syllable, denouement comes from French. The word means literally “an untying,” as of a knot. Since its introduction into English in the mid-1700s, denouement has been used to mean the untying or unraveling of a narrative or dramatic plot, the final sequence of events leading to a resolution of the story.
    The Century Dictionary offers this illustrative quotation from the Saturday Review: “The end, the climax, the culmination, the surprise, the discovery, are all slightly different in meaning from that ingenious loosening of the knot of intrigue which the word denouement implies.” In current usage, denouement has also come to apply to the outcome or resolution of any complex situation, as the denouement of a sensational trial, or the denouement of the negotiations.
  • Word 24: Fugacious
    Word 24: Fugacious [fyoo-GAY-shus]
    Fleeting, passing quickly away.
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    Synonyms of fugacious include transient (TRAN-shint, word 31 of Level 2), ephemeral (i-FEM-uh-rul, word 12 of Level 4), transitory (TRAN-si-TOR-ee or TRAN-zi-TOR-ee, word 4 of Level 5), and evanescent (EV-uh-NES-int).
    The words fugacious and fugitive come from the same Latin source, the verb fugere, to flee, fly away. As a noun, fugitive refers to a person who flees, especially from the law; as an adjective, fugitive may mean either fleeing, running away, or passing away quickly, not permanent, temporary. In this last sense it is an exact synonym of the more difficult word fugacious, fleeting, passing swiftly, lasting but a short time.
  • Word 25: Turbid
    Word 25: Turbid [TUR-bid]
    Literally, muddy, clouded, roiled, murky, as if from stirred-up sediment; figuratively, muddled, obscure, confused, not lucid.
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    Turbid is often used of liquids to mean muddy or clouded from having the sediment stirred up: a turbid river; turbid wine. It may also apply to air that is thick or dark with smoke or mist. Figuratively, turbid means muddled, disturbed, or confused in thought or feeling.
    In this figurative sense, turbid sometimes is confused with the words turgid (TUR-jid) and tumid (T(Y)OO-mid).
    Both turgid and tumid mean swollen, inflated, and both may be used literally or figuratively. However, tumid, perhaps because of its relation to the word tumor, usually is used literally to mean swollen or distended. Turgid usually is used figuratively of language or style that is inflated, pompous, pretentious, bombastic.
    Turbid never suggests swelling or inflation, but rather muddiness, cloudiness, disturbance, or confusion, as in the nineteenth-century poet Matthew Arnold’s line “the turbid ebb and flow of human misery.”
  • Word 26: Indefeasible
    Word 26: Indefeasible [IN-di-FEE-zuh-buul]
    Not capable of being undone, taken away, annulled, or rendered void.
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    The words defeasance, defeasible, and indefeasible come down to us through Anglo-French and Middle English. They were used in Old English law and are chiefly legal terms today. Defeasance is the oldest of the three; it means either the annulment or voiding of a deed or contract, or a clause within a deed or contract that provides a means for annulling it or rendering it void. Defeasible means capable of being invalidated, undone, or rendered void. Our keyword, indefeasible, which employs the privative prefix in-, meaning “not,” means not defeasible, not capable of being undone, annulled, or rendered void.
    Inalienable and indefeasible are close in meaning and are often used interchangeably. According to the second edition of Webster’s New International Dictionary (1934), “that is indefeasible which one cannot be deprived of without one’s consent; that is inalienable which one cannot give away or dispose of even if one wishes.”
    For example, the U.S. Constitution guarantees all citizens certain inalienable rights, such as personal liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and so on. When you pay off a mortgage on a house and own it outright, you have an indefeasible title to the house, although you may give up or transfer that title by selling your home or putting the deed in someone else’s name.
    Inalienable means not able to be given away or transferred. Indefeasible means not able to be taken away, undone, or made void.
  • Word 27: Disingenuous
    Word 27: Disingenuous [DIS-in-JEN-yoo-us]
    Insincere, crafty, sly, not straightforward or frank.
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    Synonyms of disingenuous include wily, subtle, slippery, deceptive, hypocritical, fraudulent, and mendacious (men-DAY-shus).
    The direct antonym is ingenuous, sincere, open, straightforward, without artifice or guile. Other antonyms include truthful, frank, candid, unselfconscious, unaffected, and guileless.
    The corresponding noun is disingenuousness.
    Disingenuous combines the prefix dis-, meaning “not,” with the Latin ingenuus, which means freeborn, of free birth; hence, noble, honorable, upright. From the Latin ingenuus, by way of French, English has also acquired the word ingénue (AN-zhuh-N(Y)OO), which the Century Dictionary defines as “a woman or girl who displays innocent candor or simplicity; specifically, such a character represented on the stage, or the actress who plays it.”
    An ingénue is an ingenuous woman. An ingenuous person is a woman, man, or child who is free from restraint or reserve, and therefore innocent, straightforward, and sincere. A disingenuous person is not sincere or straightforward. Disingenuous words are crafty, subtle, or deceptive.
  • Word 28: Scurrilous
    Word 28: Scurrilous [SKUR-i-lus or SKUH-ri-lus]
    Foul-mouthed, obscene; using or expressed in language that is coarse, vulgar, and abusive.
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    Synonyms of scurrilous include shameless, indelicate, lewd, smutty, ribald (word 42 of Level 7), irreverent, insolent, disparaging, derisive (di-RY-siv), and contumelious (KAHN-t(y)oo-MEEL-ee-us).
    Antonyms of scurrilous include polite, refined, tasteful, cultured, sophisticated, cultivated, decorous (DEK-ur-us), and urbane (urBAYN).
    The adjective scurrilous comes from the Latin scurrilis, mocking, jesting, or jeering like a buffoon. Scurrilis comes in turn from scurra, a jester, comedian, buffoon, especially one employed to entertain a rich person. By derivation, scurrilous means talking like a buffoon.
    And what precisely is a buffoon, you ask? Any dictionary will tell you that a buffoon is a person who amuses or attempts to amuse others by clowning around and cracking jokes; however, the savvy lexicographers, or dictionary editors, at Random House include a second definition: “a person given to coarse or offensive joking.” That sort of buffoon is the one implied by the word scurrilous, which means, as the second edition of Webster’s New International Dictionary puts it, “using, or given to using, the language of low buffoonery; containing low indecency or abuse.” Scurrilous language is coarse, vulgar, and abusive. A scurrilous rogue is a foul-mouthed joker who spouts insolent obscenities.
    There are two corresponding nouns, scurrility (skuh-RIL-i-tee) and scurrilousness; both may refer to coarse, vulgar, and abusive language, or to an expression of foul-mouthed verbal abuse.
  • Word 29: Recrudescence
    Word 29: Recrudescence [REE-kroo-DES-ints]
    A revival, renewal, fresh outbreak after a period of inactivity or quiescence (kwy-ES-ints).
    →
    Recrudescence comes from the Latin recrudescere, to become raw again, break out again, open afresh. In medicine, recrudescence is used of a wound or sore that partially heals and then reopens, or of a fever that abates and then breaks out again.
    Does recrudescence strike you as a word you’d never use because you can’t imagine how you’d apply it? Well, let me give you a few suggestions.
    How about sports for the weekend warrior? “Whenever Ken played basketball or softball without warming up properly, he suffered from a recrudescence of lower back pain.”
    Now let’s try economics: “Analysts disagree on whether the recrudescence of inflation will affect the stock market.”
    Are you in the retail business? Try this: “Booksellers are delighted with the recrudescence of interest in high-priced coffeetable volumes, which accounted for a 20 percent increase in sales this holiday season.”
    Now let’s take a stab at the fine arts: “Some critics are disturbed by the recrudescence of classical themes in contemporary literature and art, though others applaud it.”
    And let’s not forget fashion: “Madonna may have revolutionized our concept of fashion by turning underwear into outerwear, but it’s unlikely that she alone can effect a recrudescence of that most alluring of all exterior female garments, the miniskirt.”
    And finally, we have romance: “Seeing John again after all these years, Sally felt a recrudescence of the love for him that she had suppressed since high school.”
    You see? Recrudescence isn’t such an obscure, useless word after all, now is it?
    The corresponding verb is recrudesce (REE-kroo-DES), to break out again, show renewed activity after an inactive period. The corresponding adjective is recrudescent (REE-kroo-DES-int), breaking out afresh, as a recrudescent epidemic or a recrudescent revolt.
  • Word 30: Defenestrate
    Word 30: Defenestrate [dee-FEN-uh-STRAYT]
    To throw something or someone out of a window.
    →
    I include this humorous but useful word in the event that you may be experiencing a recrudescent urge to give up building your vocabulary and defenestrate Verbal Advantage from a swiftly moving vehicle.
    The verb to defenestrate combines the prefix de-, meaning “out,” with the Latin fenestra, a window. The corresponding noun defenestration means the act of throwing something or someone out of a window.
  • Word 31: Dilatory
    Word 31: Dilatory [DIL-uh-TOR-ee]
    Delaying, causing or intended to cause delay; also, slow, tardy, characterized by delay or procrastination.
    →
    Dilatory comes through the Latin dilator, a delayer, procrastinator, loiterer, from dilatus, the past participle of the verb differe, to delay, put off.
    In current usage, dilatory has two senses. First, it may mean causing or intended to cause delay: The purpose of a dilatory tactic is to delay action; the aim of a dilatory policy is to gain time; and unforeseen circumstances may have a dilatory effect on a project, causing postponement or delay.
    Second, dilatory may mean characterized by delay or procrastination. When you put off doing something until the last minute, you are being dilatory; when someone responds to your urgent telephone message two days later, that’s a dilatory response; and if you pay a bill a month after it’s due, that’s a dilatory payment.
  • Word 32: Vilify
    Word 32: Vilify [VIL-i-fy]
    To defame, slander, attack with vicious, abusive language.
    →
    Synonyms of vilify include to disparage, denigrate, stigmatize, malign, revile, vituperate (vy-T(Y)OO-pur-AYT), calumniate (kuh-LUHM-nee-AYT), and traduce (truh-D(Y)OOS).
    Antonyms include to praise, commend, laud, extol, glorify, eulogize, and venerate.
    Vilify comes ultimately from the Latin vilis, cheap, worthless. The word vile, in one of its senses, means of little value, and vilify was once used to mean to make vile, render worthless, cheapen, degrade, but this sense is now obsolete. In current usage, vilify means to take cheap shots, make degrading or defamatory statements, render vile or worthless by attacking with vicious, abusive language.
    Vilify is most often used of persons but it may also apply to things. A racist may vilify a certain ethnic group. A xenophobe may vilify foreigners or a particular foreign nation. And in America, the inalienable right of free speech allows a citizen to vilify the president, and most citizens seem to take advantage of that right at one time or another.
    The corresponding noun is vilification (VIL-i-fi-KAY-shin), which means either the act of vilifying or a deliberate, vicious, and defamatory verbal assault: “Politicians and celebrities often find themselves subjected to vilification in the media.”
  • Word 33: Phlegmatic
    Word 33: Phlegmatic [fleg-MAT-ik]
    Calm and unemotional; having a sluggish, apathetic temperament; difficult to move to emotion or action.
    →
    Phlegmatic comes from the Greek phlegmatikos, pertaining to the humor phlegm (FLEM, silent g). This phlegm is different from that slimy stuff you cough up when you have a cold.
    In ancient and medieval physiology, there were four humors, or bodily fluids, thought to determine a person’s health or disposition: blood, also known as the sanguine humor, which made you upbeat, cheerful, and confident; choler (like collar), also known as yellow bile, which made you passionate or irascible; melancholy, also known as black bile, which made you gloomy or dejected; and phlegm, which made you either cool and indifferent or dull and sluggish.
    From this humor phlegm we inherit the adjective phlegmatic, which by derivation means full of phlegm; hence, having a sluggish, apathetic temperament, calm and unemotional, difficult to move to emotion or action.
  • Word 34: Adventitious
    Word 34: Adventitious [AD-ven-TISH-us]
    Accidentally or casually acquired, not belonging naturally to something, associated by chance, not inherent or integral.
    →
    Synonyms of adventitious include foreign, extrinsic, incidental, extraneous, fortuitous, and supervenient (SOO-pur-VEE-nee-int).
    Adventitious comes from the Latin adventicius, which means “coming from without or from abroad,” and by derivation is related to the word advent, which means an arrival, specifically the arrival or birth of Jesus Christ or the season preceding the celebration of His birth.
    Adventitious suggests something added or imposed from without, something external or extrinsic that is accidentally or casually acquired. Adventitious information is additional and often unrelated information that you acquire casually or by chance in the course of investigating something. Adventitious blindness is caused by an accident, as opposed to blindness occurring at birth. Adventitious income or wealth is fortuitously acquired, and comes to you from some source other than wages or an inheritance.
  • Word 35: Desiccated
    Word 35: Desiccated [DES-i-KAY-tid]
    Dried or dried up, dehydrated, deprived of moisture.
    →
    The adjective desiccated is also the past participle of the verb to desiccate, to dry thoroughly. Both words come from the Latin desiccare, to dry completely.
    Desiccated may apply to food that has been preserved by drying or dehydration, such as fish, cereal, soup, or fruit. It may apply literally to anything that has been thoroughly dried or deprived of moisture, as a desiccated plant, a desiccated mummy, or a steak desiccated on the barbecue. It may also be used figuratively of something that is dried up or deprived of vital juices, as a desiccated affection, a desiccated culture, or a desiccated mind. The corresponding noun is desiccation, the act of drying or dehydrating.
  • Word 36: Comity
    Word 36: Comity [KAHM-i-tee]
    Courtesy, civility, politeness, respectful and considerate behavior.
    →
    Comity comes through the Latin comitas, courtesy, friendliness, from comis, courteous, kind, polite.
    Comity may be used of courteous relations between spouses, roommates, neighbors, coworkers, and so on, but it is perhaps most often used in the expression comity of nations, which means courteous and friendly relations between nations involving recognition and respect for each other’s laws and institutions.
  • Word 37: Specious
    Word 37: Specious [SPEE-shus]
    Appearing to be true, genuine, or correct but actually false or deceptive; superficially just or reasonable but not so in reality.
    →
    Specious comes through Middle English from the Latin speciosus, beautiful, splendid, handsome. Speciosus comes in turn from species, outward appearance, and the verb specere, to look at. By derivation, something specious has an outward appearance that is beautiful, splendid, or handsome to look upon but that underneath is false, deceptive, or flawed.
    In current usage, we speak of a specious argument, specious reasoning, a specious excuse, or a specious answer, meaning that these things seem reasonable, genuine, or true on the surface but in reality they are intended to mislead or deceive.
    Specious and plausible are close in meaning but not quite synonymous. Webster’s New International Dictionary, second edition (1934), explains that “specious implies a fair appearance assumed with intent to deceive; that is plausible which is superficially reasonable or pleasing, with or without deceit.”
    The third edition of the American Heritage Dictionary (1992) says “a specious argument is not simply a false one but one that has the ring of truth. [There is] a certain contradiction in hearing an argument described as obviously specious or specious on the face of things; if the fallaciousness is apparent, the argument was probably not plausible-sounding to begin with.”
  • Word 38: Noisome
    Word 38: Noisome [NOY-sum]
    Harmful to health or well-being, unwholesome, dangerous, destructive; also, foul-smelling, offensive, disgusting.
    →
    Synonyms of noisome in the sense of “harmful to health or wellbeing” include injurious, ruinous, deleterious (DEL-i-TEER-ee-us), noxious, baneful, malign, and pernicious.
    Synonyms of noisome in the sense of “foul-smelling, offensive, disgusting” include rank, rancid, putrid (PYOO-trid), fetid (FET-id), malodorous (mal-OH-dur-us), and mephitic (muh-FIT-ik).
    Antonyms of noisome in both senses include salutary (SAL-yuh-TER-ee) and salubrious (suh-LOO-bree-us).
    Noisome comes from Middle English and by derivation means harmful, injurious, unwholesome, as a noisome pestilence, a noisome habit, or noisome beliefs. That has been the meaning of the word since it came into the language in the fourteenth century. Perhaps because it is related to the verb to annoy, by the sixteenth century noisome also came to mean foul-smelling, offensive, disgusting, as a noisome stench or noisome breath.
  • Word 39: Calumny
    Word 39: Calumny [KAL-um-nee]
    Defamation of character, slander, a false and malicious statement or accusation meant to injure a person’s reputation.
    →
    Synonyms of calumny include backbiting, denigration, obloquy (AHB-luh-kwee), and vilification (VIL-i-fi-KAY-shin).
    The noun calumny, the adjective calumnious (kuh-LUHM-nee-us), and the verb to calumniate (kuh-LUHM-nee-AYT) all come through the Latin calumniare, to accuse falsely, from calumnia, a trick. By derivation, and in current usage, calumny means a tricky, nasty, false, and malicious accusation designed to hurt someone’s reputation.
    In 1751, Samuel Johnson wrote that “to spread suspicion, to invent calumnies, to propagate scandal, requires neither labour nor courage.” And 150 years earlier, in Hamlet, William Shakespeare wrote, “Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.”
  • Word 40: Excoriate
    Word 40: Excoriate [ek-SKOR-ee-AYT]
    To strip, scrape, or tear off the skin; hence, to rebuke or denounce harshly and severely.
    →
    Synonyms of excoriate in the sense of “stripping off the skin” include abrade, chafe, scalp, gall, and flay. Synonyms of excoriate in the sense of “rebuking or denouncing harshly” include censure, castigate, and vituperate (vy-T(Y)OO-pur-AYT).
    To excoriate, which comes from Latin, and to flay, which comes from Anglo-Saxon, are close in meaning. Both mean by derivation to strip off the skin, and in modern usage both have also come to mean to rebuke or denounce harshly, to attack or criticize in a severe and scathing manner.
    Flay also means to whip or lash the skin. If you flay an animal, you either strip off its skin or whip the hide off it. If you flay a person, you whip that person either literally, with a whip, or figuratively, with harsh and scathing words. If you excoriate an animal, you strip off its skin. If you excoriate your knee, you have skinned your knee; you have an abrasion. And if you excoriate a person, you figuratively strip that person’s skin off by delivering a harsh or severe rebuke or denunciation.
    The corresponding noun is excoriation.
  • Word 41: Lassitude
    Word 41: Lassitude [LAS-i-T(Y)OOD]
    Weariness, fatigue; a weak or exhausted state or feeling; a sluggish relaxation of body or mind.
    →
    Synonyms of lassitude include listlessness, lethargy (LETH-ur-jee), debility, indolence (IN-duh-lints), inertia (i-NUR-shuh), enervation (EN-ur-VAY-shin), torpor (TOR-pur), and languor (LANG-gur).
    Would you like an ultragrandiloquent synonym for lassitude? How about oscitancy? Oscitancy (AHS-i-tin-see) comes through the Latin oscitare, to yawn, gape, open the mouth, from the Latin os, the mouth. Literally, oscitancy means the act of yawning or gaping; figuratively, it means sleepiness, drowsiness, or sluggishness.
    The Latin os, meaning “the mouth,” is the source of another delightful grandiloquent word that is entirely unrelated to this discussion—but you don’t mind if I’m desultory, do you? (As I mentioned in the discussion of discursive, word 50 of Level 6, desultory, pronounced DES-ul-TOR-ee, means skipping or leaping from one subject to another in a disconnected way.) At any rate, this Latin os, the mouth, is also the source of the unusual English word osculation (AHS-kyuh-LAY-shin). Osculation denotes a pleasant act, something we all enjoy. With that clue, and knowing that this act has something to do with the mouth, can you guess what osculation means? If you’re thinking the act of kissing, then you are a sagacious word sleuth indeed.
    Now let’s get back to our keyword, lassitude, which comes from the Latin lassitudo, weariness, exhaustion. In modern usage, lassitude denotes a weak or exhausted state or feeling; a sluggish relaxation of body or mind. Surfeiting yourself at the dinner table can cause lassitude, and on sultry summer days we often experience lassitude.
    Fatigue, weariness, and lassitude are close in meaning. Fatigue usually is the result of physical or mental exertion; you feel fatigue after ten or twelve hours of assiduous labor. According to the Century Dictionary (1914), weariness is “the result of less obvious causes, as long sitting or standing in one position, importunity from others, delays, and the like. Fatigue and weariness are natural conditions,” says the Century, “from which one easily recovers by rest.” Lassitude is “the result of greater fatigue or weariness than one can well bear, and may be of the nature of ill health. The word may, however, be used in a lighter sense.” To illustrate that lighter sense, the Century quotes these lines from the eighteenth-century British poet, essayist, and physician John Armstrong: “Happy he whose toil/Has o’er his languid, pow’rless limbs diffus’d/a pleasing lassitude.”
  • Word 42: Traduce
    Word 42: Traduce [truh-D(Y)OOS]
    To publicly disgrace or humiliate by making false and malicious statements; to make a mockery of; expose to public ridicule or contempt.
    →
    Synonyms of traduce include defame, slander, denigrate, malign (muh-LYN), vituperate (vy-T(Y)OO-pur-AYT), calumniate (kuh-LUHM-nee-AYT), and vilify, word 32 of this level.
    Antonyms of traduce include praise, compliment, laud, extol, and adulate (AJ-uh-LAYT).
    Traduce comes from the Latin traducere, to lead across or lead in front of others; hence, to exhibit as a spectacle, expose to ridicule, disgrace or humiliate in public. In modern usage, traduce applies chiefly to making false, malicious, and humiliating statements about people, as to traduce someone’s honor, or a scathing editorial that traduces the mayor. Those gossipy newspapers with the sensational, ridiculous headlines that you see in the supermarket checkout line specialize in scandalous stories that traduce well-known people.
    The noun traducement means the act of traducing, and a traducer is a person who traduces, who makes false, malicious, humiliating statements.
  • Word 43: Dishabille
    Word 43: Dishabille [DIS-uh-BEEL]
    The state of being partly clothed; partial undress.
    →
    Dishabille may also mean the state of being casually or carelessly dressed, as in one’s night clothes or lounging attire.
    Dishabille comes from a French verb meaning to undress, which explains why it has all those silent letters. Dishabille entered English in the late 1600s, and as you can imagine, the word usually has a slightly sexy or titillating connotation.
    Here are a few examples cited in the Oxford English Dictionary, which specializes in displaying the language in historical dishabille. From 1684: “To surprise his mistress in dishabille.” From 1708: “What would she give now to be in this dishabille in the open air?” From 1796: “His lady made a thousand apologies for being [caught] in such a dishabille.” From 1861: “The easy, confidential intercourse of her dishabille in the boudoir” (BOOdwahr, a woman’s bedroom or private dressing room). And from 1885: “The shortcomings of English costume pale before the dishabille of the Dutch colonial ladies.”
    Little could the writer of that last example have imagined the sometimes shocking dishabille, partial undress, that is commonplace in the worlds of entertainment and publishing today. And now, seeing as we’ve just discussed a rather prurient word (prurient, pronounced PRUUR-ee-int, means characterized by or arousing lust), it seems fitting to invite you to learn…
  • Word 44: Saturnalia
    Word 44: Saturnalia [SAT-ur-NAY-lee-uh]
    An orgy, licentious merrymaking, unrestrained revelry.
    →
    Saturnalia, with a capital S, denotes the seven-day festival of Saturn celebrated in December by the ancient Romans. According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1894), the Saturnalia was “a time of licensed disorder and misrule…. During its continuance no public business could be transacted, the law courts were closed, the schools kept holiday, no war could be commenced, and no malefactor punished.” (A malefactor, pronounced MAL-uh-FAK-tur, is a criminal, outlaw, evildoer.)
    That week of abandon in ancient Rome has led to a second sense of the word. When spelled with a small s, saturnalia means any period or occasion of unrestrained revelry or licentious merrymaking; hence, an orgy. Among American college students, the saturnalia is celebrated during the vernal equinox, and goes by the name of “spring break.”
  • Word 45: Extirpate
    Word 45: Extirpate [EK-stur-PAYT]
    To pull or dig up by the roots, root out, exterminate, abolish or destroy completely.
    →
    Although extirpate means to root out, it has stayed close to its roots, for it comes from the Latin extirpare, to tear up by the roots, which comes in turn from ex-, meaning “out,” and stirps, which means the stem and roots of a plant. The word may be used literally, as to extirpate a tree, or figuratively, as to extirpate evil or a heterodox belief.
    Extirpate has two close synonyms: eradicate (i-RAD-i-KAYT) and deracinate (di-RAS-i-NAYT). Both these verbs come from the Latin radix, the root of a plant. By derivation and in modern usage, eradicate and deracinate also mean to pull up by the roots, uproot, and so to obliterate, annihilate, get rid of completely.
    Deracinate suggests a violent uprooting or annihilation. You can deracinate your hair; a despotic government can deracinate dissent; and a war can deracinate a population. Eradicate suggests resistance from the thing being uprooted or destroyed. Campaigns to eradicate drug abuse and organized crime often fall short of expectations.
    Extirpate suggests the intentional uprooting or extermination of something deeply entrenched. Self-styled defenders of society, like the zealous antivice crusader Anthony Comstock, are always on the lookout for some pernicious influence to extirpate—obscenity, drugs, subversives, heretics, or heterodox beliefs. The corresponding noun is extirpation (EK-stur-PAY-shin).
  • Word 46: Flagitious
    Word 46: Flagitious [fluh-JISH-us]
    Extremely wicked; shamefully and scandalously criminal, viceridden, or corrupt.
    →
    Synonyms of flagitious include atrocious, egregious (word 36 of Level 8), heinous (HAY-nus), diabolical, nefarious (ne-FAIR-ee-us), odious (OH-dee-us), and execrable (EK-si-kruh-buul).
    Flagitious comes through the Latin flagitiosus, shameful, disgraceful, infamous, from flagitium, a shameful crime, disgraceful action.
    Flagitious may be used of persons who are grossly wicked and guilty of atrocious crimes or vices. For example, in different ways and on a different scale, Jack the Ripper and Joseph Stalin were both flagitious monsters. Flagitious may also be used of actions or things to mean shamefully wicked, villainous, or evil, as a flagitious crime, a flagitious obsession, flagitious thoughts. The Holocaust was one of the most flagitious events in history.
  • Word 47: Peripatetic
    Word 47: Peripatetic [PER-i-puh-TET-ik]
    Walking about, going from place to place on foot.
    →
    Synonyms of peripatetic include ambulating and itinerant.
    Peripatetic comes from Greek and means literally walking about. When spelled with a capital P, Peripatetic refers to the ancient Greek school of philosophy founded by Aristotle, who expounded his theories while strolling in the Lyceum (ly-SEE-um) in Athens.
    When spelled with a small p, peripatetic means walking about, traveling on foot, as peripatetic exercise, a peripatetic police officer, or a grassroots political campaign that succeeded because of the peripatetic efforts of volunteers.
    Peripatetic may also be used as a noun to mean a peripatetic person, a pedestrian or itinerant, someone who walks or moves about on foot.
  • Word 48: Cachinnate
    Word 48: Cachinnate [KAK-i-NAYT]
    To laugh loudly and immoderately, laugh convulsively or hysterically.
    →
    To chuckle, giggle, cackle, chortle, titter, snicker, and snigger all suggest moderate, restrained, or self-conscious laughter.
    To guffaw suggests loud, boisterous, unrestrained laughter.
    To cachinnate takes the joke one step further. When you cachinnate, you shake with laughter, split your sides. Can you think of the last joke you heard that made you cachinnate?
    The verb to cachinnate comes from the Latin cachinnare, to laugh aloud. The corresponding noun is cachinnation (KAK-i-NAY-shin), immoderate, convulsive, or hysterical laughter.
    My earnest hope is that at least once in the course of Verbal Advantage, something I’ve written will catch your funny bone off guard and induce a cachinnation.
  • Word 49: Manumit
    Word 49: Manumit [MAN-yuh-MIT]
    To set free, liberate, emancipate, deliver from slavery or bondage.
    →
    Synonyms of manumit include unshackle, unfetter, enfranchise, and disenthrall.
    Antonyms include enslave, enthrall, subjugate (word 43 of Level 1), shackle, fetter, manacle (MAN-uh-kul), and trammel (TRAM-ul).
    The verb to manumit comes through Middle English and Old French from the Latin manumittere, to free a slave, which comes in turn from manus, the hand, and mittere, to send, let go.
    To manumit, to emancipate, and to enfranchise are close in meaning. According to the Century Dictionary (1914), to enfranchise “is to bring into freedom or into civil rights.” In the twentieth century, American women gained the right to vote, gained economic and professional influence, and in many other ways became enfranchised. To emancipate “is to free from a literal or figurative slavery.” You can emancipate someone from bondage or emancipate someone’s mind with knowledge. Manumit has often been used interchangeably with emancipate, but it usually suggests a literal deliverance from bondage or slavery. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation manumitted American slaves. If you get fired from a crummy job, consider yourself manumitted.
  • Word 50: Expiation
    Word 50: Expiation [EK-spee-AY-shin]
    Atonement; reparation for a sin, crime, or offense.
    →
    Expiation comes from the Latin expiare, to atone for, purify, engage in a ritual cleansing. The corresponding verb is expiate (EK-spee-AYT), to atone for, make amends for.
    Have you done anything wrong lately? Alienated a loved one? Offended a coworker? Told a lie? Broken a law? If you’re feeling guilty about anything, if you have a compunction (word 26 of Level 8), a twinge of regret caused by an uneasy conscience, then Dr. Elster has the verbal cure for you: expiation, the act of atonement or reparation for a wrong done. Depending on the nature and severity of your offense, your expiation may require an apology, a punishment, or the wearing of sackcloth and ashes.
Answer Key
Favorite Books
Verbal Advantage - Level 01

Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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Verbal Advantage - Level 02

Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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Verbal Advantage - Level 03

Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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Verbal Advantage - Level 04

Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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Verbal Advantage - Level 05

Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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Verbal Advantage - Level 06

Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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Verbal Advantage - Level 07

Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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Verbal Advantage - Level 08

Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. A 10-step vocabulary program teaches 500 key words and 3,000 synonyms. Verbal Advantage provides a complete learning experience, with clear explanations of meanings, word histories, usages, pronunciation, and more. Far more than a cram session for a standardized test, the book is designed as a lifetime vocabulary builder, teaching a vocabulary shared by only the top percentage of Americans, with a proven method that helps the knowledge last.

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